OVER the last quarter of a century, Dawn Economic and Business Review (EBR), a weekly pink-page supplement, has been serving as a chronicler of Pakistan’s political economy. The term ‘political economy’ has been traditionally defined, firstly, as the interrelationship involving political power, society and the economy, and, secondly, as the macroeconomic situation and public policies that decied how public finances are raised and how the State spends them.

To these two components could be added the competitive standing of a country vis-à-vis others in the global trading system in terms of, say, its exchange rate and trade relations. The organisation and structure of its agriculture, industry and services would also become relevant in terms of the pattern of ownership. Finally, the framework of law and practices that govern the economy also has a bearing on political economy issues.

Feudal culture, patronage and rent-seeking largely underpin the political economy of Pakistan.

EBR’s launch in 1982 was a pioneering editorial attempt as until then daily newspapers in Pakistan had kept the subject relegated mostly to spot economic stories and that too confined mostly to inside pages and limited to columns even fewer in number than what were being devoted to sport stories.

Those who conceived the idea and implemented it – the then Editor of Dawn, Ahmad Ali Khan, and SGM Badruddin, who was in charge of the new section – were academically and professionally more than well-equipped to launch such an innovative media enterprise. And the editorial policy of EBR at the time of its advent was seemingly influenced by the self-confessed and well-known left-of-centre political predispositions of these two giants of Pakistani journalism. To begin with, the EBR, therefore, looked at the issues of political economy through the prism of the voiceless, the downtrodden and with a pronounced sense of social and distributive justice.

The EBR started promoting from day one the concept of regulated market economy and what is today called inclusive growth, safety nets, poverty alleviation and social spending. At the same time the weekly editorially opposed dole-dependence and policies that increased inequality between people and regions.

It was around this time that the international debate about economic systems – state-managed socialism or liberal democracy and capitalism – seemed to have been settled. By the time the Soviet Union collapsed, the case was closed. However, since then, the rise of China has belied the view that a state-led strategy will always fail, and the global financial crisis exposed the perils of inadequately regulated markets and crass capitalism.

Ghayurul Islam, who succeeded Badruddin in 1990, and Jawaid Bokhari, who succeeded the latter in 1993-94, were also from the school of economic thought to which their predecessors had belonged. As such, the two had no difficulty in continuing with the coverage of political economy based on the editorial policy originally envisaged for the weekly.

The current person in charge, who succeeded Bokhari in 2017, Afshan Subohi, had joined the EBR as an internee in 1984. One, therefore, presumes she has walked into the slot knowing very well its demands and of course mindful also of the geo-economic challenges that the country in particular and the world at large are facing currently.

The 1980s were the years of ‘no politics’ as commanded by General Ziaul Haq. But there was no ban on covering economic developments as long as the coverage was confined to straight reporting sans political angles.

Most of the economy in those days was under the public sector. Even the profit margins in the limited private-sector activities were being determined by the government. There was a blanket ban on access to official economic data. Even the rate of inflation was treated as national secret. At the official level the exchange rate was treated not as an economic issue but something linked to our national pride.

The decisions taken by the federal and provincial cabinets, the ECC and the NEC were also treated as sacred secrets; and deals with IMF, the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and the Paris Club were similarly treated.

So, economic journalism by and large during the decade of 1980s and good part of the 1990s was too cramped; limited to publishing government handouts and verbatim accounts of press conferences by official economic managers and ministers.

Those were indeed testing times for the Press as it was being regulated under the infamous Press and Publication Ordinance (PPO) imposed in 1963 by General Ayub Khan and burnished in 1980s by General Zia’s censorship and a special law which stipulated that even if what had published was the truth and in the national interest, the journalist concerned would be liable to be tried under the law if the military dictator so wished.

It was in these troubling times that the EBR started testing the limits on Press freedom with its interpretative stories. They were mostly investigative reports based on facts but were invariably incomplete because of the strategically placed stonewalls on the way to complete truth. The government rarely challenged these incomplete truths fearing that perhaps a public debate would expose the policy weaknesses.

This highly secretive style of governance had given rise to a lucrative economic information market which those unscrupulous elements in the civil service, who were privy to this information, exploited to the hilt for making an extra buck by selling it clandestinely to the interested private parties.

From Islamabad the EBR reported on economic policies, macroeconomic indicators and management of public-sector units. In Karachi, the EBR focussed on banking, financial institutions and the performance of major public-sector units. A close watch was kept on provincial economies as well. Developments in the agriculture sector were covered from Lahore but only occasionally.

Even with all those restrictions curbing its style, the EBR succeeded in bringing out in those largely blind days for the Press a complete political economy dossier week after week, containing fairly comprehensive international, regional and national market data of commodities and exchange rates, national and international macroeconomic indicators and official development information on agricultural, industrial, commercial and financial sectors.

For sources, the EBR correspondents depended mostly on official international and national data, research departments of nationalised banks and the Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FPCCI) as well as the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). Budget documents, annual Economic Surveys of Pakistan, SBP reports and five-year-plan documents also provided the back-up.

During the first two decades following its launch, EBR staffers, when confronted with the said stonewalls, would be left with no alternative but to tap cooperative insiders and willing whistle- blowers for vital information and relevant documentary evidence. And at times they would also willingly refuse to resist when tempted with an opportunity to surreptitiously pocket documents lying around in some unguarded corner of the officialdom. Some of us were also known to have made handsome payments from personal pockets for documentary information.

Space limitation does not permit recalling here all those ‘excellent exclusives’ that the EBR weekly broke over the last 25 years on its pink pages, which at times were called by its detractors ‘yellow pages’ to perhaps liken the content with yellow journalism as occasionally in attempts at testing the limits the EBR staffers would turn their exclusives into pieces reading like crime stories.

Once during an exclusive EBR editorial meeting, Khan Sahib, the Editor, mentioned that seniors looking after the white pages (regular daily newspaper) were asking him why he would not allow them the same freedom as he had given to those working for the pink pages. Quick came an offer from colleague Babar Ayaz in a lighter vein: “Even better, Khan Sahib, let our team manage the white pages as well!” Some of us were later actually given editorial responsibilities on white pages. But that is another story.

Contributions of Babar and the late Sabihuddin Ghausi of the original EBR weekly staff generously reflected their left-of-centre ideological leanings, but they would never ever be found slanting an analysis or interpretation to suit their ideological bent. Another member of the original team, Shaheen Sehbai, possessed a keen eye for the mountains camouflaged in molehills and was very good at coining catchy phrases and using colourfully descriptive epithets when discussing newsy characters and events.

It did not take long for EBR to establish itself as a well-regarded weekly notice board of Pakistan’s political economy, and gained in the process quality readership as those who controlled its editorial policy had kept an extra-careful watch all along over the integrity and credibility of its content.

Khan Sahib would be ruthless with those of us who would break, even accidently or by mistake, his rigorous codes of integrity and credibility. On the other hand, he would not let the management take liberties with his staff nor would he entertain complaints from the government against any of his reporters. Therein lies a critical component behind the success that EBR achieved.

The writer is Dawn’s former Resident Editor at Islamabad.*