Islamabad, Jan 09: The events of Sept 11, 2001 pushed most world economies into the dumps. But for Pakistan, they appear to have marked a turning point - in the other direction. Though millions still live on less than USD 01 a day, Pakistan's economy has sprung to life in no small part because of its decision to join the us-led war on terrorism 15 months ago, analysts here said.
Since then, growth and company profits are up; budget deficits and interest rates are down. As stocks worldwide tanked, they shot through the roof here, with Karachi Stock Exchange surging 112 per cent - the highest percentage gain in 2002 of any major bourse on earth.
"Pakistan has turned around a deteriorating macro (economic) situation of a few years ago to a rapidly improving one," according to an upbeat World Bank Report released this weekend. The United States agrees.
"Sept 11 was a turning point," said Terry White, a spokesman at the US embassy in Islamabad, the capital. "Pakistan was really teetering before then."
For Pakistan, the benefits are doubly ironic. It initially looked set to lose big.
It had backed the hard-line Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan that the United States blamed for aiding Osama bin Laden, chief suspect in the Sept 11 attacks. So Pakistan was at risk of becoming the odd man out.
Pakistan was also two years into military rule, imposed after gen pervez musharraf staged a bloodless coup. Economic sanctions were slapped on Pakistan and India for conducting nuclear tests in 1998. Bureau Report