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Pakistan’s Trade Policy, 1999–2008: An Assessment

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  • Mirza Qamar Baig

    (Wolfson College, Cambridge,U.K.)

Abstract

Employing the Annual Trade Policy issued each year by the Ministry of Commerce as a simplified case study, this paper examines the reasons for the ineffectiveness of this policy instrument and the inherent inconsistencies and conflicting signals to the market that it contains. Capacity constraints and the lack of a sufficient belief in the virtues of trade liberalisation have led to a situation where the more significant trade reforms have almost invariably been ushered in by the IMF/IFIs. It is argued that reforms under external influence are not always properly sequenced, and are seldom of a lasting nature; that ‘ownership’ of trade reforms can only be ensured when the policy-makers and the decision-makers come to understand trade policy’s role in nurturing quality institutional environment. This would require, inter alia, institutional capacity strengthening of the Ministry of Commerce (and its subordinate bodies) and giving it effective authority to formulate trade policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Mirza Qamar Baig, 2009. "Pakistan’s Trade Policy, 1999–2008: An Assessment," PIDE-Working Papers 2009:55, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:pid:wpaper:2009:55
    as

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    File URL: https://www.pide.org.pk/pdf/Working%20Paper/WorkingPaper-55.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Cited by:

    1. Saleem Khan & Muhammad Azam & Chandra Emirullah, 2016. "Import Demand Income Elasticity and Growth Rate in Pakistan," Foreign Trade Review, , vol. 51(3), pages 201-212, August.
    2. Shahbaz, Muhammad, 2012. "Does trade openness affect long run growth? Cointegration, causality and forecast error variance decomposition tests for Pakistan," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 29(6), pages 2325-2339.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Public Policy; Trade Liberalisation; Anti-export Bias; Market Access; Trade Facilitation; Bound Tariffs; Trade Remedies; Entropy Index;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • O24 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - Trade Policy; Factor Movement; Foreign Exchange Policy
    • O19 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - International Linkages to Development; Role of International Organizations

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