MIDST the global turmoil and confusion, one can discern creeping changes that promise a better future.

Referring to a momentous change in the region Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Syria author of `Pakistan: Clash of Ideas` Anjum Altaf says that change is inevitable.

It is also clear that some forms of rules are outdated and harmful and are destined for the dust heap of history.

Whether we embrace it or not, time and values will inevitably change, says analyst Mohammad Ali Babakhel. Meanwhile, Morrocan social scientist Karim El Aynaoul and growth and transformation scholar Hinh T. Dinh stress the need for an updated policy framework suited to the new era that has rendered the prevailing growth model obsolete.

While it appears that President Donald Trump`s tariff policy has the potential to redraw global trading norms, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has reaffirmed hisgovernment`s commitment to transform Pakistan under its five-year National Economic Transformation Plan 2025, saying that economic stability is a means, not an end.

In the above backdrop, one may look at the federal government`s recent reform initiatives. The centre has decided to stop its intervention in the domestic wheat marketing system by abolishing the traditional minimum support price every year.

There will be no minimum support price for wheat this year as per the agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the National Assembly was informed; it may be noted that the support price mainly benefitted rich farmers.

The provinces have updated and modernised agricultural income tax laws. As critics point out, the problems in collecting the agriculture income tax (AIT) revenue to their full potential will pose a challenge due to the lack of farmland valuation records, the capacity of tax authorities, and the resistance of elite landowners.

The Sindh Revenue Board (SRB)and its counterpart in Punjab, which are to be entrusted with AIT collection, have succeeded in significantly raising the sales tax on services since it was devolved. The SRB, which was created to collect sales tax, will now be required to deal with influential farmers and rural culture.

The bulk of the AIT revenues will be collected from two bigger provinces. With industrial elites at the helm of affairs in Punjab, its government was the first to pass the required AIT law.

Governance needs to be improved for the effective implementation of any reform. In a related development, an IMF technical mission is now conducting a Governance and Corruption Diagnostic Assessment. The ensuing report will recommend actions for addressing corruption vulnerabilities and strengthening integrity and governance, whose findings will help shape structural reforms.

Six key governance sectors and institutions will be examined, and the mission will engage the leadership of the financial, revenue, andelection bodies and members of the superior judiciary.

To quote analysts at Dawn, the `lMF`s diagnoses of issues in our judicial and regulatory system should hopefully prepare the ground for the much broader institutional reforms beyond the ones to which the IMF loan is tied.` Pakistan`s ranking on the Corruption Perception Index 2024 dropped by two spots from 133 in 2023 to 135 in 2024 out of 180 countries, according to Transparency International.

The state of governance can be gauged, for example, by the exceptionally low utilisation of federal development funds, with only Rs0.22 trillion of the Rs0.63tr released during July-January spent this fiscal year against a Rs1.1tr development budget.

As per Hubert Joly, the author of `The Heart of Business: Leadership Principles for the Next Era of Capitalism,` the major issues to be addressed include making capitalism progressive, promoting people-centred development (mainly through participation of organised,active citizenry), evolving an economic model that does not produce abnormal inequality, and creating a state structure in the service of the common good.

It may be noted that Article 3 of Pakistan`s Constitution provides, `The state shall eliminate all forms of exploitation and ensure the gradual fulfilment of the principle, from each according to his ability, to each according to his work.

The principle is elaborated in similar provisions of the Constitution, such as one that relates, `The state shall reduce disparity in the incomes and earnings of individuals.

And it is now widely recognised that sustainable development is closely linked to the development of democratic culture. This is demonstrated by what analysts at Dawn note, `A conflict between what those who control the state want and what the people want for themselves,` is continuing even a year after the 2024 elections. Unless this fundamental conflict is resolved, they argue that the country will not be at peace with itself. •