Inaugural Address

It is a matter of great pleasure and privilege for me toinaugurate the Eighth Annual General Meeting of the Pakistan Society ofDevelopment Economists and to address such a distinguished group ofprofessional economists and policymakers. Many of you will recall LordKeynes famous remark, "Every politician is a slave of some defuncteconomist". Perhaps the only way for a politician to escape thatKeynesian trap is to remain an economist. That is what I am trying todo, but I have begun to realise that the principles of good economicscannot always be reconciled with the requirements of politics.Similarly, a Finance Minister cannot always be both popular andpatriotic at the same time. Often he has to make a deliberate choice oftaking unpopular decisions in the national interest.