Foreign currency reserves of Asian central banks now account for 70 percent of the World currency reserves and financed more than half of the current account deficit of the United States in 2003. There was a time in the late 1960s when Pakistan’s exports exceeded total exports of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.
But, unfortunately, all these countries have moved ahead whereas Pakistan is still struggling to reach $ billion target. Had Pakistan maintained its economic progress of the 1960s, its economy would have been akin to the East Asian ones and moved into the middle income group by now. Our per capita income is still around $ and we are stuck in the low income category.