Well-trodden path

The trends we have seen under Ishaq Dar’s many turns as finance minister were already well established long before he was a fixture in the political scene. Starting from Muhammad Shoaib, who became an adviser to the World Bank after serving as finance minister, Pakistan’s financial system has been moulded to rely on imported technology and discourage any investment in human capital.

After spending decades doing things a certain way, a certain path dependency kicks in and it will take many tries before we can successfully change course.

Malik Tariq Ali

Lahore