[Economic] 'Going off the rails': Top economist compares Pakistan's economy with India, Bangladesh

[Douma]

Pakistan's economy is going off the rails, a top economist said earlier this week, after looking into some economic data like imports, exports, and inflation. Atif Mian, a professor of economics and finance at Princeton University, compared the cash-strapped country's economy with India and Bangladesh. He found that Pakistan's exports were declining, inflation was rising at a dangerously high level, and there was no confidence among the investors in the current government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. On exports, Mian shared a chart comparing Pakistan's numbers with that of India and Bangladesh. He said there was a global surge in exports post-Covid, but around the second quarter of 2022, Pakistan's exports drop off relative to India and Bangladesh - and the gap is now over 20 per cent. "This happened despite the large currency devaluation and all "efforts" to boost exports given the severe balance of payment issue," he wrote on Twitter. The economist, who hails from Lahore but lives in America, said the export drop likely reflected serious supply-side disruptions in the economy. He blamed the government for its inability to get into an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which has withheld a tranche of $1.1 billion of the bailout package. Islamabad desperately needs this money as it has been running low on foreign currency, which has forced the government the cut imports.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.businesstoday.in/amp/latest/world/story/going-off-the-rails-top-economist-compares-pakistans-economy-with-india-bangladesh-376636-2023-04-09