Pakistan
A pipe dream of good governance
The most oft-repeated cliché by members of the ruling elite in our political discourse is as follows, "We are passing through the most critical period of our history".
But fact of the matter is that these ladies and gentlemen who lament this state of affairs personally never experience any such criticality, so to say, except for naturally falling ill or dying in the luxury of their ostentatiously built homes.
But as far the majority of the people whom they rule is concerned, they always remain in a critical situation, thanks to these ladies and gentlemen mentioned above. Despite all this we hardly find any serious effort on the part of the so-called analysts or economists as to why this unfortunate situation perennially exists for the majority of the people.
The most common and perhaps the most superficial and misleading argument that is put forth is that of so-called good or bad governance. This jargon and phraseology has consciously been designed to lead to oversimplifications, aimed at deducing false conclusions.
Is this just a question of good and bad governance? Can it solely explain the misery, hunger and deprivation that besets us? Well, things are not that simple. We have been toeing all the policies that were prescribed by our western masters. More than 80 percent members of Pakistan's first planning commission were Americans.
Our growth rates were healthier when president Ayub Khan embarked on his industrialization drive and afterwards handed over those units to the private sector. His uneven development triggered the longest ever movement in the history of Pakistan and apparently healthy growth rates of Ayub's regime resulted in the overthrow of his own government.
Subsequent years saw the rise of Zulfiqar Ali Bhuto on the heels of 1968-69 movement and his socialist program. Bhutto did far less than what he promised in his manifesto and sought to rebuild the system which he had promised to smash once in power. That became his tragic flaw and resulted in the counter revolution which Gen Zia initiated during his brutal regime.
The post-Zia period was also continuation of the counter-revolution garbed in the democratic dispensation during which the international financial institution gradually took over the economy.
Four decades of less government and austerity has taken its toll and what we find as a natural sequel to this exercise is a broken system ailing economy and a period of unprecedented instability at hand. This year at the World Economic Forum all those who matter, strangely enough, talked about the so-called "Grand Reset". This was, in fact, was an admission of failure of the economic paradigm which based itself on trickledown theory which, needless to say, miserably failed.
And last but not the least, the IMF has, for the first time in history, began keeping the record of protest movements and concluded in its report the world has entered into a phase of extreme volatility where falling living standard and unemployment would result in social unrest of huge proportions in the world at large.
The movement in India and Myanmar may serve as a reminder to us that we are part of the same economic reality and sooner than later such political convulsions may catch us unaware and overtake all the nonissues upon which our political discourse is currently based. Oligarchy in the name of democracy cannot continue indefinitely. The toiling masses may soon serve a notice to the ruling elite, a scenario which was predicted at the annual meet of WEF at Devos. All the claimants of power wrangling with each other may join hands in the event of any such movement. So far the one way war on the peoples of the world will soon provoke a response of epic proportions.
The elite that gathered at Devos this year have already warned governments, big corporations and those who are at helm of the affairs, and advised the Grand Reset with an enhanced role of governments. So far governments are doing so by printing currency in the first world and doling it out.
It seems an end of ‘The End of History' thesis by Francis Fukuyama and ‘Clash of Civilization’ is fast giving way to the clash of classes. And history shows we need a good system without which good governance is not possible.
Business
Gold rates decline by Rs.600 to Rs.226,900 per tola
The price of 10 grams of 24 karat gold also decreased by Rs.515 to Rs.194,430 from Rs195,045 whereas the price of 10 gram 22 karat gold went down to Rs.178,319 from Rs 178,791.
Karachi: The per tola price of 24 karat gold decreased by Rs.600 and was sold at Rs.226,900 on Monday compared to its sale at Rs. 227,500 on last trading day.
The price of 10 grams of 24 karat gold also decreased by Rs.515 to Rs.194,430 from Rs195,045 whereas the price of 10 gram 22 karat gold went down to Rs.178,319 from Rs 178,791, the All Sindh Sarafa Jewellers Association reported.
The price of per tola silver decreased by Rs.20 to Rs.2,580 whereas that of ten gram silver declined by Rs.17.15 to 2,211.93.
The price of gold in the international market decreased by $5 to $2,170 from $.2,175, the Association reported.
Business
Food exports grew by 54.05% in 08 months, reached $4.969 bln
Pakistan Bureau of Statistics says during the period from July-February, 2023-24, different food commodities worth $4.969 billion were exported as compared to the exports of 3.225 billion in the same period of the previous year.
Lahore: Food group exports from the country during the first 08 months of the current financial year grew by 54.05 per cent as compared to the exports of the corresponding period of last year.
During the period from July-February, 2023-24, different food commodities worth $4.969 billion were exported as compared to the exports of 3.225 billion in the same period of the previous year, according to the data of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
The exports of rice grew by 85.83 per cent as over 3.932 million metric tons of rice valued at $2.517 billion were exported as compared to the exports of 2.546 million tons worth $1.354 billion in the same period of last year, it added.
During the period under review, the exports of fruits and vegetables grew by 13.89 per cent and 39.27 per cent respectively as 688,950 metric tons of fruits valued at $246.463 million and 724,252 metric tons of vegetables worth $277.064 million were exported.
The other commodities that witnessed positive growth in their respective exports included pulses 268.68 per cent as pulses valued at $173,000, tobacco 32.09 per cent worth of $60.581 million and the exports of spices grew by 21.10 per cent and recorded at $78.107 million.
Meanwhile, the imports of food commodities into the country during the first 08 months of the current financial year decreased by 18.33 per cent as against the imports of the corresponding period of last year.
The imports of food commodities during the period under review came down from $6.687 billion to $5.461 billion. On month on month basis, the food group imports grew by 5.12 per cent in February 2024 growth as food goods valued at $739.819 million were imported as compared to the imports of 703.722 million of the same month of last year.
However, the exports of food goods during the month of February 2024 grew by 35.38 per cent as different food commodities worth $702.469 million were exported as compared to the exports of $518.871 million in the same month of the last year.
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