Pakistan's 'Nazuk Mor' becomes topic of Case Study at Harvard Business School

Even 77 years after its creation, Pakistan is going through the Nazuk Mor (critical phase). Unbearable inflation, steep increase in utility bills, heavy taxes, corruption and ever increasing external debt have crushed the ordinary people of the country. However, the powerful elite class is still enjoying all the perks and privileges and those at the helm of affairs are amassing assets abroad despite an acute economic crisis at home.

Since its birth in 1947, Pakistan is facing the same old issues in 2024. The country is still seeking bailouts from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and trying to sell state-owned entities to make the ends meet.

This situation in Pakistan drew the attention of foreign educational institutions as they decided to teach it as “case study” to future leaders and managers. The case study titled “Pakistan at 75: When Will the “Nazuk Mor” End?’ is for use in Professor Alberto Cavallo’s the Business, Government, and the International Economy — Spring 2024 at Harvard Business School.

According to the Financial Times' world rankings 2024, the school’s MBA programme secured 11th spot. Case studies are a common method of teaching in business schools and used by professors to present students a real-life example, followed by discussions on how to resolve issues facing the entity.

This case study makes the reference to Nazuk Mor in its title, a phrase rather repeatedly used in political sloganeering. It conveys Pakistan’s persistent problems with political instability and boom-and-bust economic cycles. 

After the February 8 general elections, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led government emerged in the country amid allegations of “massive rigging”. Recovering the country’s economy is the biggest challenge of the PML-N-led government. The newly elected government in the cash-strapped country approached the IMF to avert the looming default.

Last month, Pakistan and the IMF reached a staff-level agreement on the second and last review of the $3 billion SBA. If cleared by the global lender's board, the IMF will release about $1.1 billion to the struggling South Asian nation.