Pakistan's central bank governor could not have been more unequivocal: the country's current growth model simply cannot sustain a population of over 250 million. With unemployment at a 21-year high and nearly half the population slipping into poverty, the governor has called for a tectonic shift in economic thinking.

For too long, Pakistan has survived on stop-gap policies, treating economic crises like recurring fevers instead of chronic illnesses. The result is that the country has long been stuck in the economic stabilisation phase, with growth falling from an average of 3.9% over 30 years to 3.4% in the last five. Business cycles grow shorter, shocks hit harder and the economy remains trapped between IMF-prescribed austerity and political bandaids.

For years, this stabilisation model

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