This book examines the behaviour of private industrial investment in Pakistan in the 1960s, in the first half of which it rose at an unprecedented rate, followed by sharp decline, and then stagnation for the rest of the period. The approach adopted is institutional and empirical. The developments studied appeared to be very much the product of the institutional setting of Pakistan, which was different from that of most advanced countries but possibly riot so dissimilar from that in many other developing countries.
Pakistan's economic performance over the past 65 years has confounded its critics – when the country has performed much better than expected, especially in the early years – and disappointed those who had high expectations, given its initial start and economic potential. The central question that the contributors to this volume seek to answer is how to reverse the current prolonged period of low growth and high inflation that Pakistan has experienced, and to suggest and implement measures that would decisively move the economy onto a more sustainable growth path. The book draws on the wide experience of the authors at the highest level of policy-making to put forward realistic and concrete policies keeping in mind what works and does not work in the current socio-economic-political milieu. It also moves beyond the income measurement of poverty toward a more comprehensive analysis of what the best way is to target poverty in Pakistan.
