The much sought after general elections for installing a government of the people, by the people and for the people have already been held in Pakistan. Let us hope that this dream, which never got into a reality during past 55 years, comes true this time.

The change in the policies with the change of the faces at the helm of affairs has become a stigma especially on the economic front, which has given a serious jolt to the economic foundations of this country. As a result of frequent changes in policies Pakistan has lost its credibility in the eyes of local as well as the foreign investors. There were certain examples when a government spent millions of rupees on preparation of feasibility reports of projects, however, all the money and efforts were gone in vain and shelved with the arrival of new government.

Consequently, the investment in the large scale-manufacturing sector, which is a major source for creating jobs, had almost come to a standstill. The shutting down of the business by large financial institutions like NDFC and Bankers Equity due to heavy non-performing loans and gross mismanagement respectively clearly reflects state of investment in Pakistan. The PICIC and the IDBP are now the two remaining DFIs sitting on the heap of the money but the borrowers for project financing are missing in the market. This state of affairs is certainly due to inconsistent policies in the past. The freezing of foreign currency accounts in May 1998 was another example of change in the policies, which proved a laughing stock on the part of the financial management. As a result of that folly, not only we lost the confidence of the foreign investors but also of the non-resident Pakistanis reflected in the drastic cut of the home remittances. It is the economy of this country, which had to pay the price of the policy of Nationalization in 1974 and its reversal into the form of Privatization after two decades. The yellow cab scheme was introduced by the Nawaz government, which was condemned by the next government of Benazir Bhutto. In fact trifling with the national policies is nothing but to play with the fate of the poor of this country and growing number of the people who are forced to live below poverty line. As a result of these changes in the policies on personal whims, due to prestige point and in the party interest our economy never got on sound footings rather remained on the decline.

Everybody knows that when the last government of Nawaz Sharif was changed in 1998 the country had reached at the verge of economic collapse. Countryí's foreign exchange reserves were less than a billion dollar, home remittances were narrowed down alarmingly as major of the non-resident Pakistanis were sending their money through Hundi system due to a big gap between official and open market rates of the dollar.

CURRENT SITUATION

The present shape of the national economy is the result of the policies of the present government. The economy of the country is in a comfortable position due to relatively strong foreign exchange reserve position, which is likely to hit the mark of $10 billion by the end of the current financial year. The cash flow from external resources especially growing size of home remittances attributed to the restoration of the confidence of people into economy and significant domination of official banking rates over open market rates of the dollar. This for the first time in the history of Pakistan that people instead of investing money into dollars giving preference to the rupee which is again a matter of pride for Pakistanis.

Although this outstanding economic success is not yet reflected at micro level and the people still facing tough time to survive, yet it is hoped that if the things were allowed to continue, the positive results would start come out shortly.

It may be mentioned that lending rates in the banking sector have already come down by two per cent and there are indications that it may go down further by two per cent if the present financial policies continued to persist.

The country has achieved macro-economic stability and all the macro economic indicators showed that the economy was moving in the right direction.

The foreign exchange reserves, which were in a vulnerable position, causing uncertainty in the economy. The economic growth increased from 2.6 per cent to 3.6 per cent last year and it was expected to be 4.6 per cent this year ending June 30, 2003 this growth in economic would certainly help the efforts of the government for poverty alleviation in Pakistan.

NEW GOVERNMENT

It is however yet to be seen how the newly elected government behaves with the present policies and the people who are looking after these policies. It is in the larger interest of the people, economy and the country that the policies, which have brought stability to the national economy, should be allowed to prevail. Pakistan's exports have been given noticeable access to the European market through which our exports have registered 20 per cent increase under quota system. Shaukat Aziz, minister for finance who is taking care of these policies, although not elected in the recently concluded elections, yet he deserves a place in the financial management of the country.