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Pakistan
Tourism
As of early 1994, foreign tourism remained relatively undeveloped.
Annual tourist arrivals averaged 442,136 for the period 1985-89
but fell to 284,779 in 1990 because of uncertainties generated
from the Persian Gulf War. The number of tourist arrivals rose
to 415,529 in 1991. Many of the arrivals are visitors of Pakistani
origin who have settled in Europe and North America. Pakistan
has considerable tourist potential, but the generally poor law
and order situation in the late 1980s and early 1990s discouraged
rapid growth. Hotels meeting international standards are concentrated
in the larger cities, especially Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar,
and Rawalpindi.
In early 1994, the immediate future of the economy appeared uncertain.
Although the economy is responding well to the government's liberalization
program, and many sectors appear poised to achieve healthy rates
of growth, economic prospects are constrained by the government's
large budget deficits, the continued absorption of public expenditures
by defense and interest payments, and the perception of widespread
corruption. Pakistan remains heavily dependent on foreign aid
donors. The failure to address more adequately the nation's low
levels of education and health is also likely to act as a constraint
on economic growth in the remainder of the 1990s.
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Two publications from the Economist Intelligence Unit, the annual
Country Profile: Pakistan, Afghanistan and the quarterly
Country Report: Pakistan, Afghanistan, provide up-to-date
information on the economy. More detailed analysis is found in
two annual publications of Pakistan's Ministry of Finance, the
Economic Survey and the Economic Survey Statistical
Supplement. Two monthly periodicals, the National Bank
of Pakistan Monthly Economic Letter and the Economic
Outlook are also useful. Shahid Javed Burki deserves special
mention as one of the most astute writers on the Pakistani economy,
especially as it relates to the nation's historical and social
legacy. His Pakistan: A Nation in the Making and Pakistan:
The Continuing Search for Nationhood all include important
essays pertinent to the economy, as does Pakistan under the
Military, coauthored by Craig Baxter. Other recent general
accounts of the economy include Nadeem Qasir's Pakistan Studies,
B.M. Bhatia's Pakistan's Economic Development, 1948-88,
and Anita M. Weiss's Culture, Class, and Development in Pakistan.
(For further information and complete citations, see Bibliography.)
Data as of April 1994
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