GROWTH AND DEREGULATION: PAKISTAN’S ECONOMY AT THE CROSSROADS

ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE When Pakistan gained independence from the British rule and partitioned from India under the Indian Independence Act of 1947, the nascent state was faced with the daunting task of rehabilitating the migrant Muslim population while at the same time building up a viable economic base from the weak infrastructure it had inherited. Compared to the neighbouring countries and a number of countries that started on the journey to development facing roughly similar initial conditions, Pakistan’s growth performance has not been remarkable (Table 0.1). Table 0.1: Decade-wise Annual Average GDP and GDP Per Capita Growth Rates