‘Backbone of economy’ …. Business Recorder September 22 2024

EDITORIAL: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb’s customary reference to agriculture and IT as “the backbone of our economy and the real levers of economic growth of the country” must have raised a few eyebrows within these sectors.

According to a press release from the finance ministry, these comments were made during a meeting with officials of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). It is, of course, very interesting and encouraging that the two sides “discussed the role of agricultural commodities market and collaboration between SECP (Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan) and CFTC for a series of ongoing capacity building training sessions on the development of commodities futures market, regulation and oversight leading to a well-functioning commodities market in Pakistan”.

It is indeed surprising that a country with a natural advantage in agriculture – not to mention that two-thirds of families in the fifth most populated country in the world are associated with this sector – never really worked towards building a futures market, which would not only have enabled farmers to hedge against unforeseen price swings but also helped attract outside capital.

After all, decades of official neglect, particularly the refusal to move on from centuries-old methods of farming and irrigation and the inexplicable reluctance to embrace modern technology have already combined to reduce the country from a one-time agri exporter to a chronic importer.

Worse still, the farming community continues to be apprehensive about mechanisation with the government not really bothered to nudge them forward either. Cotton is still picked by hand, fields are still irrigated like they were five hundred years ago, and farmers regularly use inferior quality seeds.

Modern technology like drip irrigation and seeding, which saves the genetic integrity of seeds, is simply lost in this country. And since agriculture also feeds the country’s premier export industry – textiles – it’s no surprise that we have to import high quality inputs because we’re unable to grow the type of crops that the value-added industry requires. And despite these constraints, the story has not changed in decades; primarily because the government never felt it was its responsibility to put its foot down and get the job done.

The IT sector’s tale is not much more encouraging. The government’s crackdown on all shades of opposition, especially its resort to what is being referred to in the press as the firewall, has already triggered an exodus of IT workers from the country; most of them relocating to much freer information technology hubs like Dubai.

And even though everybody in and out of the country knows what is happening, the government is still pretending that some sort of submarine cable glitch is responsible for the internet slowdown that just refuses to go away.

It was very shameful when, just a few weeks ago, a premier online freelance platform cautioned its clients against engaging IT professionals out of Pakistan because of internet connectivity problems here. Yet not a sound could be heard from the government about how its policies are rattling a very important sector that should be nourished instead of ignored.

There’s no doubt that both agriculture and IT sectors hold tremendous potential. Yet just harping about their “backbone” and “lever of growth” status, especially when on-ground policy stunts them, does nobody any favours. The current finance minister brought much hope with him because of his credentials in the international financial industry.

Yet, increasingly, it seems he’s giving into politically correct statements — much like his new colleagues who are career politicians – even when they sound so clearly hollow. Hopefully, his policies regarding these “backbone” sectors will do his credibility more justice than his claims about equitable taxation and the contours of the IMF programme.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024

Posted in: Press Releases