Pakistan’s economic outlook positive despite recent terrorism: Washington Post

Despite the recent terror attacks, Pakistan’s economic landscape continues to look promising, an article in The Washington Post said, adding that the global community needs to move “beyond headlines”.

Pakistan has been seeing considerable economic growth, with a forecast of 5.2 per cent growth rate in 2017. The article also pointed out that investor interest has translated in impressive gains by the Pakistan Stock Exchange, which was the best stock market in Asia in 2016.

“The exchange broke through the vaunted 50,000 mark last month — a first in history. What’s more, Pakistan is winning plaudits from the International Monetary Fund, and its economy is forecast for a healthy 5.2 percent growth rate in 2017, according to the World Bank.”

Pakistan will also be finally moved a notch by the MSCI from its frontier-market category to the “emerging market” index, wrote Afshin Molavi, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute of the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.

The article attributed the successful economic change to three factors: better overall security situation in the country, relative political stability and a growing middle class. According to Brookings Institution scholar Homi Kharas, Pakistan’s consumer middle-class market could hit $1 trillion by 2030.

With the influx of billions from China, Pakistan could improve its road links and infrastructure significantly. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would also help the country overhaul its energy infrastructure, the article said.

While the mushrooming growth has brought Pakistan into the limelight, issues such as electricity shortages, poverty and extremism continue to present challenges to sustainable development, the article noted.