The Economic Survey 2024–25, released ahead of the federal budget, reveals troubling downward trends across key national indicators.
Notably, Pakistan fell short of its GDP growth target of 3.6% for the outgoing fiscal year, achieving only 2.7%. Sector-wise performance was similarly subdued: agriculture grew by just 0.56%, industry by 4.77%, and services by 2.91%. These figures paint an alarming picture, despite official claims of recovery in select sectors.
While the economic reasons behind this sluggish growth are significant, it’s equally important to understand that the root of the problem lies in the broader governance crisis. Governance experts often categorize governance into three key areas: political, administrative, and economic. The current economic decline must be understood in the context of a deep-seated failure across all three.
Pakistan today is grappling with multidimensional conflicts and crises, and the challenges faced by ordinary citizens are compounding by the day. Among the most pressing issues are widespread poverty, extremist social attitudes fueling terrorism, economic fragility, rising incidents of child sexual abuse, honor killings, and violent disputes over property. Despite the willingness and commitment of many state functionaries, the institutions of the state are failing to respond effectively to these challenges.
A striking example is the state’s partial success against religious terrorist groups such as the Taliban. While their operational capabilities have been degraded, the underlying mindset of extremism and intolerance—whether among clerics, youths, or professionals like doctors, lawyers, and teachers—remains largely unaddressed.
One fundamental reason behind the state’s inability to resolve these issues lies in the outdated thinking and operational methods of top decision-makers and civilian bureaucrats. The crises Pakistan faces are not unique; many modern states have confronted similar challenges. However, today’s societies—especially urban and peri-urban mass societies—are built on impersonal, need-based interactions. These societies require institutionalized mechanisms for conflict resolution and service delivery, rather than traditional, personalized approaches.
This shift necessitates a new kind of governance—radically different from the conventional systems still in place. Scholars refer to this model as “new governance.” The term gained prominence in the 1970s and 1980s when many hierarchical states began failing to meet the needs of their populations. As public trust in governments waned, the focus moved from “government” to “governance”—emphasizing broader, more participatory, and responsive systems for managing societal affairs.
Unfortunately, Pakistan’s political leadership—past and present—has failed to embrace the model of new governance. Our politicians, whether in power or in opposition, have largely remained entrenched in a retrospective, backward-looking mindset. Every successive government, including the one led by former Prime Minister Imran Khan, has relied heavily on rhetoric about past “achievements,” offering little in terms of meaningful solutions for the present or vision for the future.
What Pakistan desperately needs is a shift toward a new governance approach—one that focuses not on legacy or personality politics, but on the structure, effectiveness, and responsiveness of state institutions. New governance is about how well the governing system addresses citizens’ policy demands and solves real-life problems. Tragically, this aspect of governance has been consistently ignored or sidelined by every administration.
Yes, history matters—and addressing historical injustices is necessary for genuine progress—but the state appears paralyzed, unable to clean its metaphorical Augean stables. This paralysis stems from a continued reliance on outdated governance frameworks, which in turn have led to weak state capacity, bureaucratic inefficiency, and a disturbing lack of sincerity in public service.
Contemporary challenges—whether in Pakistan or elsewhere—require a holistic, multijurisdictional, and networked response. Take youth unemployment, for example. It is not a problem the Ministry of Finance or Economic Affairs can tackle in isolation. Addressing it effectively requires coordinated action among the ministries of education, social welfare, youth affairs, and foreign affairs, as well as engagement with local and regional governments, the private sector, and civil society. This networked problem-solving lies at the heart of new governance.
Unlike the rigid, hierarchical model of traditional governance, new governance is adaptive, inclusive, and collaborative. It demands a shift in mindset from top-down authority to shared responsibility. Unfortunately, many of our ruling politicians and bureaucrats remain deeply wedded to the old “chain of command” mentality, making them resistant to reform.
Worse still, there is a personal incentive for many civil servants to avoid new governance. Embracing it would mean relinquishing some authority and collaborating with non-state actors, such as NGOs, community groups, and the private sector. This power-sharing threatens the monopoly of control long enjoyed by the political and bureaucratic elite—and thus remains unpalatable to them.
However, meaningful governance in the 21st century requires exactly that: power-sharing and stakeholder inclusion. Without it, the mounting challenges Pakistan faces—economic stagnation, institutional decay, environmental degradation, and growing social unrest—will only intensify.
It is deeply disheartening that while many countries, including war-torn states like Afghanistan, are making some headway in improving living standards and economic outcomes, Pakistan continues to fall behind. A large segment of the population still lacks access to clean drinking water, proper sanitation, quality education, or basic healthcare. Our current governance model has failed them.
The only path forward is to adopt a new governance paradigm—one rooted in collaboration, responsiveness, institutional reform, and public accountability. If Pakistan’s leadership remains trapped in the comfort zone of outdated practices and refuses to think beyond conventional solutions, the looming crisis will only deepen. We are running out of time.