At the moment of its birth in August 1947, Pakistan inherited an economy that was fragile and unbalanced. It was overwhelmingly agrarian, with agriculture contributing more than half of GDP and providing nearly all export earnings. Per capita income was scarcely a few hundred dollars. Industrial capacity was minimal, financial institutions were rudimentary, and the country had to create its own central bank within weeks of independence. The new state leaned heavily on public sector-led industrialization in the 1950s and 1960s, using development plans financed by foreign aid and remittances, but this early promise would be tested by decades of political upheaval, policy reversals, and external shocks.

Pakistan has the opportunity to stand as a nation with debt under 50% of GDP, exports surpassing $100 billion, a diversified energy mix free from capacity payments, a rupee that holds its value, and a population empowered by quality education and healthcare.

In those early years, Pakistan maintained a fixed exchange rate system inherited from the British colonial framework. The rupee was anchored at roughly PKR 3.31 to the US dollar in 1949, a level that reflected both stability and limited integration into global markets. But as the economy began to open and global trade dynamics shifted, the rupee came under pressure. The 1971 war and the separation of East Pakistan inflicted a deep economic wound, shrinking the export base by half and forcing a devaluation in 1972 that brought the rate to about PKR 11 per dollar. Through the 1980s, under a managed float, the rupee gradually lost value, trading near PKR 18-20 by the decade’s close. The 1990s saw greater volatility, with the currency moving into the PKR 30-40 range amid political instability, sanctions, and uneven reform. By the early 2000s, the rate was already PKR 50-60, and by the mid-2010s it had crossed PKR 100. The shocks of the 2018 balance-of-payments crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic pushed it further, and by mid-2025, the exchange rate has settled around PKR 280-284 to the dollar. This relentless depreciation is more than a macroeconomic trend-it shapes the lives of citizens daily. Each devaluation........

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