stands at 23,040MW but in 2015 Pakistan will produce an average of 11,000MW per day. To be certain, power outages are not because of lack of generation capacity but because of lack of governance.
National debt: On August 18, 2008, the day President Musharraf resigned, per capita debt stood at Rs40,000. On September 8, 2013, the day President Zardari resigned, per capita debt stood at Rs80,000 (we took on more debt in five years than we had done in the preceding 60 years). As of the last day of December 2014, per capita debt was recorded at Rs103,000. If the trend persists, per capita debt will cross Rs200,000 by 2018.
Economic inequality: Over the past 10 years, an estimated 90 percent of the wealth generated in Pakistan has gone into the coffers of the top two percent of the population. The income and asset gap between rich and poor continues to widen by the hour; the rich are getting richer, the poor poorer. The economy is getting more and more cartelised and the cartels are becoming more and more powerful – the power cartel, the oil cartel, the sugar cartel, the cement cartel, the banking cartel and the land mafia. One, there is an inverse link between income inequality and social cohesion. Two, crime rate and income inequality are correlated.
Human capital: Pakistan’s ranking in the Human Development Index is at 146th position out of 187 countries. India and Bangladesh are ranked at 135th and 142nd, respectively.
Industrial growth: Pakistan’s industrial growth rate peaked at 13 percent in 2004. In 2009, it turned negative and has since hovered around three percent.
Priorities: Rs260 billion for Hyderabad-Sukkur motorway. Rs44 billion for the Rawalpindi-Islamabad metrobus. Rs15 billion for Operation Zarb-e-Azb. Rs0 for the National Action Plan.
Conclusion 1: Counter-insurgency is a civil-military effort; 33 percent military and 66 percent civil. Conclusion 2: Economic security is the grossly neglected dimension of Pakistan’s national security. Conclusion 3: Pakistan’s energy security is a governance issue. Conclusion 4: Our economic priorities are all messed up.
The writer is a columnist based in Islamabad. Email: farrukh15hotmail.com Twitter: saleemfarrukh