National economies are inseparably intertwined with national politics the world over, but few countries demonstrate this principle better than Pakistan. Following the latest of many loans to the country from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), some much-needed economic reforms are being implemented by prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s new pro-business government. Not for the first time, however, political gymnastics have threatened to undermine any recovery.
Pakistan’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate last peaked at about 9% in 2005/06, under the presidency of army general Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in 1999. Military dictatorships have been the only stretches of enforced political stability in Pakistan, a fact which tends to be reflected in economic performance.
