The World's Worst Job
India Today|August 13, 2018

Imran Khan is set to take charge of a country riven by extremism and crippled by debt. Can he turn it around in the face of an all-powerful army?

Wajahat S. Khan
The World's Worst Job

Asad Umar, expected to be Pakistan’s next finance minister, is a tall but reticent man. Known for his sardonic tweets, the bespectacled former chief executive of Pakistan’s largest corporation and the chief economic advisor in Khan’s inner circle, came up with a widely shared one-liner on Election Day last week, hours before polls had even closed.

“Pakistanis have won the toss and elected to bat…”

Umar’s confident cricket reference, which went viral, was clearly to his own Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf ’s election symbol, the ubiquitous balla [cricket bat], and its most famous bearer in the history of the country.

But while prime minister-in-waiting Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi had taken the same decision—to go to bat, and very successfully—exactly 26 years and four months ago at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the 1992 World Cup final against England, his historic win in Pakistan’s 10th general election last week—clearly up there as one of the more exciting instances in the charged history of this raucous republic—is also a moment of reckoning.

Simply put, Pakistan is not doing too well, and Khan’s got his tasks cut out for him. According to Bloomberg, its tanking economy, slowing to 5.2 per cent growth—with surging imports and debt, a balance of payments crisis thanks to a current account deficit of almost 50 per cent, the worst performing stock market globally last year, the fastest dropping reserves in Asia (which have hit a three-and-a-half year low) consistent devaluations (four since December), foreign direct investment barely moving (0.8% to $2.77 billion for FY18, hardly an increase), a water and power crisis that cannot be solved by less than an infrastructural miracle, and rampant unemployment in an increasingly young and uneducated country.

Denne historien er fra August 13, 2018-utgaven av India Today.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra August 13, 2018-utgaven av India Today.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA INDIA TODAYSe alt
Sporting Q+A Fella
India Today

Sporting Q+A Fella

IN NETFLIX’S VIJAY 69, ANUPAM KHER PLAYS A 69-YEAR-OLD WHO DECIDES TO COMPETE IN A TRIATHLON. THE ACTOR TALKS ABOUT WHY HE CONTINUES TO CHALLENGE HIMSELF

time-read
1 min  |
November 18, 2024
Museum Under the Sky
India Today

Museum Under the Sky

Photographer Ahtushi Deshpande's passion project, Speaking Stones documents the threatened rock art of Ladakh

time-read
2 mins  |
November 18, 2024
Reclaiming Our Archives
India Today

Reclaiming Our Archives

Sumana Roy contests the negative connotations regarding provincials in this thought-provoking book

time-read
1 min  |
November 18, 2024
TRAVEL AND ITS DISCONTENTS
India Today

TRAVEL AND ITS DISCONTENTS

Shahnaz Habib's Airplane Mode is asensitive dive into the complex and contentious activity that modern-day travel has devolved into

time-read
2 mins  |
November 18, 2024
CELEBRATING WORDS
India Today

CELEBRATING WORDS

The sixth edition of the Dehradun Literature Festival promises a convergence of literature, cinema and societal issues

time-read
1 min  |
November 18, 2024
MORE THAN A FILM FESTIVAL
India Today

MORE THAN A FILM FESTIVAL

The 13th edition of the Dharamshala International Film Festival (DIFF) is being held November 7-10 at McLeod Ganj in Dharamshala.

time-read
1 min  |
November 18, 2024
HOLDING THE FORT
India Today

HOLDING THE FORT

PANORAMA EDITIONS, AN INTERNATIONAL ART SALON CURATED BY ARTIST SARAH SINGH, RETURNS WITH A UNIQUE THEATRICAL STAGING AND EXHIBITION IN GWALIOR

time-read
2 mins  |
November 18, 2024
A HOMECOMING OF SORTS
India Today

A HOMECOMING OF SORTS

Indian contemporary artist Subodh Gupta’s exhibition The Way Home pays homage to Bihar, where his roots lie

time-read
2 mins  |
November 18, 2024
Art and the City
India Today

Art and the City

Mumbai's leading art fair, Art Mumbai, returns to the iconic Mahalaxmi Racecourse, promising a \"bigger, brighter, and more inventive\" experience for art enthusiasts with a thoughtfully curated display of modern and contemporary art from India, South Asia and beyond.

time-read
1 min  |
November 18, 2024
PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS AN OLD MAN
India Today

PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS AN OLD MAN

At 99 and still painting, Krishen Khanna is one of our most venerable artists ever

time-read
3 mins  |
November 18, 2024