I understand what Riaz is doing and I agree with him to the extent that the nation needs morale boosting and a reminder of good achievements. Especially when most of the Pakistani media excels in kicking us while we are down.
However, I disagree with him on what constitutes progress.
When I think of Pakistan, I think of the poor masses who lack even basic necessities; the young people whose potential is never realized because the government can't even give them 24 hours of electricity; or the salaried people who are stuck carrying the income tax burden while most of the richer folks hitch a free ride.
I don't measure progress by the nation's average bank balance, or the number of American fast food joints, or the number of car dealerships.
I measure it by the number of world class athletes, scientists, artists, universities that Pakistan produces. We have the potential. There were times when we could hold our own against the best of them in almost all these fields. It's sad to see how far we have fallen.
All of these components made significant progress in years 2000-2007.
Poverty was cut in half from 34% to 17%
Education spending dramatically increased as reflected in faster human development.
Number of universities more than doubled.
Electricity was much more reliable.
An excerpt of IMF LOI signed by PPP govt finance minister in 2008: "Pakistan's economy witnessed a major economic transformation in the last decade. The country's real GDP increased from $60 billion to $170 billion, with per capita income rising from under $500 to over $1000 during 2000-07". It further acknowledged that "the volume of international trade increased from $20 billion to nearly $60 billion. The improved macroeconomic performance enabled Pakistan to re-enter the international capital markets in the mid-2000s. Large capital inflows financed the current account deficit and contributed to an increase in gross official reserves to $14.3 billion at end-June 2007. Buoyant output growth, low inflation, and the government's social policies contributed to a reduction in poverty and improvement in many social indicators". (see
MEFP, November 20, 2008, Para 1)
Haq's Musings: Musharraf's Economic Legacy
I am sorry but I have to disagree 100% on this.
"Here are some figures from Economist magazine's EIU 2013:
Bangladesh GDP per head: $695 (PPP: $1,830)
Pakistan GDP per head: $1,410 (PPP: $2,960)
Pakistan-Bangladesh GDP per head Ratio: 2.03 ( PPP: 1.62)"
This for a start is simply wrong.
BD's actual GDP/capita in US dollars is over 1000 dollars and not 695 dollars using the 2005 base year that Pakistan now uses. That figure is from 3 years ago and using the old 1995 base year to boot!
There are many other development and stds of living indicators indicators which support the big income gap between Pak and BD.
Pakistan-Bangladesh GDP per head Ratio: 2.03 ( PPP: 1.62)
Bangladesh-Pakistan GDP (Source: World Bank)
Upward Economic Mobility:
Pakistan has continued to offer much greater
upward economic and
social mobility to its citizens than Bangladesh and India over the last two decades. Since 1990, Pakistan's middle class had expanded by 36.5%, India's by only 12.8% and Bangladesh's by just 8.3%, according to an
ADB report titled "Asia's Emerging Middle Class: Past, Present And Future.
Per Capita Energy Consumption:
Energy consumption in this day and age generally indicates a nation's level of industrialization, productivity and standards of living. Going by this yardstick,
Pakistan's 14 million BTUs per capita consumption is well ahead of Bangladesh's 6 million BTUs per capita as estimated by
US Energy Information Administration for 2009.
Per Capita Cement Consumption:
Cement use is an important barometer of national economic activity in developing countries. Pakistan's
cement consumption of 132 Kg per capita is significantly higher than Bangladesh's
85 Kg per person.
Agriculture Value Added Per Capita in Constant 2000 US$ (
Source: World Bank)
Job Growth:
Pakistan's employment growth has been the highest in South Asia region since 2000, followed by Nepal, Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka in that order, according to a recent World Bank report titled
"More and Better Jobs in South Asia".
Total employment in South Asia (excluding Afghanistan and Bhutan) rose from 473 million in 2000 to 568 million in 2010, creating an average of just under 800,000 new jobs a month. In all countries except Maldives and Sri Lanka, the largest share of the employed are the low‐end self-employed.
Other Facts:
Here are a few other relevant data points in comparing Bangladesh and Pakistan:
1. Bangladesh is still categorized by the World Bank among low income and least developed countries of the world, while Pakistan is a middle income country and classified well above the list of least developed countries of the world.
2. Bangladesh is ranked as 11th poorest country in the world by the World Bank in terms of the percentage of population living on $1.25 or less a day. Neighboring
India is the 14th poorest on this list, while Pakistan does not show up on it. The rest of the nations on this list are all in sub-Saharan Africa.
3. In 1947, East Pakistan started with a lower economic base than West Pakistan, and the loss of its Hindu Bengali business elite in 1947 left it worse off. It also didn't have the benefit of the large number of
Muslim businessmen who migrated to West Pakistan, particularly Karachi, after partition of India in 1947.
4. Pakistani economist
Dr. Ishrat Husain explains it well when he says that "although East Pakistan benefited from Ayub’s economic reforms in 1960s, the fact that these benefits were perceived as a dispensation from a quasi-colonial military regime to its colony—East Pakistan—proved to be lethal."
World Hunger Index Rankings
It must, however, be acknowledged that Bangladeshi economy has been outperforming Pakistan's in the last few years, particularly since
President Musharraf's departure in 2008. Bangladesh has also made significant strides on various social indicators and it now ranks just one notch below Pakistan on human development index 2011. Bangladesh's family planning efforts have been remarkably successful in lowering the fertility rate of Bangladeshi women, an area where Pakistan significantly lags behind the rest of South Asia.
Haq's Musings: Comparing Bangladesh With Pakistan in 2012
