Karachi : The Bank of Punjab Management held a client event in Lahore this week with Professor Stefan
Dercon as Chief Guest.
Mr. Stefan is Professor of Economic Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government and the Economics Department,
at the University of Oxford. He combines his academic career with work as a policy advisor, providing strategic economic and development advice. The event was attended by senior industry
leaders and prominent businessmen of the country.
Professor Dercon has been working with the Government to review the strategic economic plans for the country and incorporate international best practices. He is spearheading the ‘Committee on the Home-Grown Economic Plan’ for the Government of Pakistan, and advising the Government on
developing and implementing a medium-term reforms agenda that will support economic growth through higher international trade and greater private sector participation for job creation and
poverty alleviation. These reforms will support the economic stabilization policies outlined by the government in the IMF EFF agreement.
During the discussions, Professor Dercon stressed on the need to use the current crisis as an opportunity for economic reform. He emphasized the current structure of the economy distorts the
allocation of resources, stifling productivity growth. He also highlighted the anti-export bias of the policies and the need to move the economy away from import substitution towards export-
led growth. He also emphasized the need for corrective actions to improve the investment climate, boosting private and foreign investments in the economy.
Professor Dercon shared examples of successful policy implementation in other developing countries and lessons for Pakistan. Drawing on his experience working in 40 countries,
Professor Dercon shared insights that to be successful, government policy must take into account the distributional consequences of reforms and factor in risk mitigating measures on implementation constraints and political economy.
Mr. Zafar Masud, the CEO of the Bank of Punjab welcomed Professor Dercon and participants to the event and shared the enormous wealth of experience that Mr. Dercon brings to the table. The talk was followed by a question and answer session where industry leaders also actively shared their views on various
economic policy matters.
