Presented by

Abeer Fatima 10528

Introduction
Asif Ali Zardari was born on 26 July 1955 in Karachi,

Sindh.
He is a Pakistani politician and co-chairperson of
Pakistan Peoples Party.
He served as the 11th President of Pakistan from 2008
to 2013.
He is the first ever democratically elected president of
Pakistan to have completed his five year tenure.
As the Co-Chairman of the PPP, he led his party to
victory in the 2008 general elections.
Between 1993 and 1996, he held various cabinet
positions in the second Bhutto Administration including
Federal Investment Minister, Director General of
Intelligence Bereau and head of Federal Investigation Agency.

Highlights

7th NFC Award: . Creating consensus on a landmark National Finance Commission (NFC) Award.
The NFC Award along with the 18th Constitutional Amendment is aimed at giving the provinces more
autonomy and decentralizing the authority and finances from the center to the provinces.

The autonomy package for Gilgit-Baltistan introduced by the PPP Government . The area has now an
autonomous status with a chief minister and a governor. President Zardari also signed a
memorandum of understanding with China for a 7000-MW power project in Gilgit-Baltistan.

18th Amendment

Provincial autonomy

Passed a number of laws, like the Industrial Relations Act 2008, the Prevention of Domestic Violence
Act, 2008, The Protection Against Harassment of Women at Workplace Act,2009, the Removal from
Service(Special Powers) Ordinance 2000 (Repeal) Act,2010, the Services Tribunal( Amendment) Act,
2010 etc.

Launching of Benazir Income Support Programme to alleviate poverty and increasing gas
development surcharge for Balochistan.

At the international front Zardari stressed the need to further strengthen Pakistans relations with
China and to normalise relations with India.

 Agriculture: The Benazir Tractor scheme, The Benazir Credit Card

Scheme and Crop Loan Insurance schemes were introduced for the
benefit of the farmers.
The government initiated the construction of 300,000 low-cost houses
for the poor under Benazir Behan Basti scheme.
Zardari signed the Nizam-e-Adal regulation and once it failed he

ordered operation against the terrorists. Pakistani flag was hoisted in

Swat. Within 3-months of the completion of the operation, 3.5 million
IDPs returned to Swat safely.

Economic crisis
From 14 to 17th of October, 2008 he was in China to negotiate foreign aid, as Pakistan
faced the possibility of defaulting on its payments. China refused to offer any aid
commitments but instead promised to provide assistance in the development of two
nuclear power plants and more future business investments.
After Saudi Arabia, Britain, China, the United States and the United Arab Emirates
refused to provide any bailout he officially asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
for assistance in solving Pakistan's balance of payments problem on October 22.
Due to our decrease in GDP rate, no country was ready to give aid for our financing
needs. Due to conditions of IMF, the government imposed high tariffs rates on consumer
and domestic goods which created extreme economic crisis for our country.

Economic crisis
He went to Saudi Arabia from 4 to 6 November in hopes of obtaining financial
aid and securing trade agreements. However, leaked cables revealed
increasingly strained relations between Zardari and Saudi royalty, primarily
because of Saudi distrust of Zardari and preference for Sharif.
In mid-November 2008, Zardari's government officially sent a letter of intent to

the IMF regarding a bailout to help increase its foreign exchange reserves and a
$11.3 billion multi-year loan package, Pakistan received a $7.4 billion loan for
200810. The IMF stipulated stringent reform conditions, which included
rebuilding the tax structure and privatizing state enterprises.

Karachi, Pakistans main port and its economic heart, has turned into a killing
zone, with on average a dozen bullet-ridden corpses turning up every day,
victims of a relentless turf war among politically connected gangs. The PPP has
fought on the streets of Karachi with two other political parties, the Awami
National Party and the Muttahida Quami Movement, even as it has sat merrily
in coalition government with them in Islamabad, the capital.

 United States expanded its campaign of targeted

killings by remotely piloted drones in Pakistans

Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
The price of oil was expected to be in the range of 70-

75 dollars per barrel. However, the prices rose to $125

per barrel during the year. This severely impacted the
supply of electricity and threatened the stability of the
economy
Severely impacted the supply of electricity and
threatened the stability of the economy

Foreign policy
Relations with India
In mid-November 2008, he suggested Pakistan was ready for a no-

first-use nuclear policy and called for closer economic ties.

Mumbai attacks were a major reason in deteriorating the relationships

between the two countries.

Our government was initially cleared of all the direct involvement in

the attacks but simultaneously demanded the extradition of 20

Pakistanis which it alleged had taken part in them.
In June 2009, Zardari met Singh for the first time since the Mumbai

attacks at a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Russia.

Foreign Policy
Diplomatic relations with Afghan President Hamid Karzai improved after
Musharraf's departure and Zardari's rise to power.
The Obama administration's AfPak policy reflected the unified approach the
United States took in dealing with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
In his first visit to Afghanistan as President in early January 2009, Zardari
promised a renewed relationship to improve cooperation. In late March, Obama
announced a civilian aid package of $7.5 billion over five years in return for
cooperation in the AfPak conflict.
In February 2009, FATA's provincial government officially declared Islamic law
in Swat to achieve a ceasefire with the northwestern Pashtun tribes.
Zardari did not sign the Swat ceasefire until mid-April, when domestic pressure

from Parliament mounted. By the end of April, the agreement collapsed as the
Pakistani military pursued an unpopular offensive in the neighbouring Dir
district.

In September 2010, Zardari and Karzai met in Islamabad and both advocated
fighting insurgents rather than trying to end the war with diplomacy.

Reinstatement of the judiciary

In February 2009, Zardari and the Musharraf-appointed Supreme Court
attempted to disqualify Nawaz Sharif from running in any elections and tried
to force his brother Shahbaz Sharif to resign as Chief Minister of Punjab
province
Zardari dismissed the Punjab provincial government and only partially
reinstated the judiciary by restoring 56 other judges deposed by Musharraf
but not their former leader, Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary.
The Sharif brothers vowed to join forces with the Lawyers' Movement in the

Long March
Ten judges were reinstated on March 16 and Chaudhary assumed his position
on March 22.

18th Amendment
Reduction of Presidential powers
Zardari was a beneficiary of National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) - a dubious law
enacted by President Musharraf to hold on to power during his last days. This infamous
law was promulgated under a deal with the Americans to wipe out corruption cases
against Benazir Bhutto and others to enable her to share power with Musharraf.
In late November 2009, Zardari ceded to Prime Minister Gillani the chairmanship of
the National Command Authority.

In December 2009, the Supreme Court ruled that the National Reconciliation Ordinance
amnesty was unconstitutional, which cleared the way for the revival of corruption cases
against Zardari because his earlier corruption cases challenged the legality of his
presidency.
In January 2010, the Supreme Court ordered Pakistan's government to reopen Zardari's
corruption charges in Switzerland. That same month, Zardari won a key victory against
the judiciary over his corruption trials when Geneva Attorney General Daniel Zappelli
stated that Zardari can not be prosecuted under international laws because of
his presidential immunity.
In February 2010, Zardari sparked a standoff by attempting to appoint a Supreme Court
candidate without the court's approval, but the confrontation ended after he backed down
and nominated a candidate acceptable by the court

 In April 2010, after months of political pressure, the government passed the 18th
Amendment, which reduced the President to a ceremonial figurehead by stripping the
office of the power to dissolve Parliament, to dismiss the Prime Minister, and to appoint
military chiefs. After the 18th Amendment, Zardari's main power derived from his
position as leader of the PPP, which controls the largest bloc in Parliament.

In early January 2011, Zardari signed the 19th Amendment, which lessened the likelihood
of future clashes between the President and the judiciary by strengthening the power of
the Chief Justice in deciding judicial appointments.
In November 2012, the Pakistan government in response to the court orders, finally wrote
to the Swiss authorities seeking to reopen the corruption cases against Zardari.

Floods-2010
In the summer of 2010 Pakistan faced the most destructive floods in

the countrys recorded history.

By mid-August more than 1,500 Pakistanis had died as a result of the

rivers extraordinary flooding, and, with some one-fourth of the

country touched by the floods, many millions more were affected to
various degrees.
Many in the international community helped us both through the UN

and through bilateral support. These included the US, Japan, UK,
China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, UAE and others
A program of Cash Compensation was launched for giving Rs. 160

billion.

Abbottabad incidence
On May 2, 2011, a U.S. military operation in Pakistan killed Osama bin

Laden, the leader of the al-Qaeda network.

Bin Ladens presence in Abbottabad threatened to add new tension to

the often-troubled security alliance between the United States and

Pakistan.
After bin Ladens death, the news that he had in fact lived in a large

compound in an affluent area near the Pakistan Military Academy, one

of the countrys most prestigious military institutes, raised questions
about how his presence could have escaped the notice of Pakistans
security forces.

The other side of the story

The circular debt kept on increasing despite injections of the government,
which built pressure on fiscal side.
Karachi is the main hub of the economic activities, faced the series of attacks as
well as similar incidence occurred in Punjab, KPK and Balochistan. In

retaliation to these attacks and terrorists activities long and big sit down stage
protests took place which sent a bad signal to outside world about the
insecurity prevailing in the country.
Investment dropped to 14.2% if to compare with 2008 when it was hovering

around 19.21 %
During FY12 and FY13 the power shortage became so severe that it wiped out
2% from our GDP.

 The growth in industrial sector increased on the back of recovery in large scale
manufacturing, construction and mining and quarrying. Amid of severe energy
crisis, the LSM performed well. The data of March FY13 suggests a growth 9.3%
on YoY basis and 4.3% on average July-March FY 13.

Five years the economy faced myriad challenges on :

external and internal front including power crisis,

persistent inflationary pressures, ,unprecedented
floods , low tax to GDP ratio, high fiscal deficit,
mounting public debt, high interest payments, high
growth in subsidies on account of circular debt and
Increasing drone attacks
Lack of law and order
Increased target killings

 The tax structure incentivized maximum tax evasion.

Additionally some sectors were under taxed and some

sectors are not taxed at all, contributing to low tax
base.
Agriculture only contributed 2.5% to tax however
contributes much greater to the GDP.
Custom duty to indirect taxes increased.
Sales tax share increased

Key figures
Exports have continued to register upward trend

despite the high base of 2011 exports of 30 per cent rise

that touched record figure of $25.5 billion.
He said the government policies for expatriate

Pakistanis resulted in robust growth of remittances

which rose from $6 billion in 2007 to nearly $12 billion
in 2012.

GDP Growth
GDP Growth (%)
6

5.5
5
4.4

5
3.7

3.6

4
2.6

GDP Growth (%)

2
0.4

0
2006-07

2007-08

2008-09

2009-10

2010-11

2011-12

2012-13

Sectoral Contribution to GDP

Growth (%)
Sector

2007-08

2008-09

2009-10

2010-11

2011-12

2012-13

Agriculture

0.41

0.76

0.05

0.43

0.75

0.72

Industrie

1.81

-1.15

0.71

0.99

0.56

0.73

Fertigungsindustrie

0.87

-0.6

0.19

0.34

0.29

0.46

Services

2.77

0.75

1.81

2.24

3.05

2.14

Real GDP (Fc)

4.99

0.36

2.58

3.66

4.36

3.59

Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics

Fiscal Deficit
Pakistans fiscal policy remained under immense

pressure owing to continued security related issues,

greater than targeted subsidies, flood related expenses
and global financial crisis.
government borrowed heavily from external and
internal resources in order to finance the fiscal deficit,
due to which a huge amount of money was paid
towards interest payments. All these factors
relentlessly affected Pakistans fiscal capacity to
finance the fiscal deficit.

Fiscal Deficit

6.5

7
6

Fiscal Deficit
6.8

6.2
5.2
4.7

5
4
Fiscal Deficit
3
2
1

0
2008-09

2009-10

2010-11

2011-12

2012-13

Trade
The government started the three year policy cycle and

presented its first Strategic Trade Policy Framework 2009-12 in

September 2009. STPF 2009-12 achieved its export targets at the
end of 2010-2011.

In spite of various challenges faced by economy, our trade

showed consistent improvement. Our exports increased by 27

percent in the year 2010-11 and touched a record level of US $
25.4 billion.

There was a slight fall of 4.7 percent in exports during 2011-12,

due to external factors like shrinkage in global demand in wake

of the global financial crisis and lower prices of cotton in the
international market etc.

35

Exports

30

(growth)

25

20

15

10

0
2007-08
-5

-10

2008-09

2009-10

2010-11

2011-12

35

Imports

30

(growth)
25

20

15

10

0
2007-08
-5

2008-09

2009-10

2010-11

2011-12

Money and credit

During July-10th May 2012-13, money supply increased by

9.9 percent against the growth of 9.1 percent in the

comparable period last year on account of improvement in
Net foreign assets,
The improvement in NFA however, was mainly on account
of realization of $1.8 billion under the Coalition Support
Fund (CSF) during the first half of 2012-13.
A declining trend was witnessed in the banking spread, as
it reduced to 4.45 percent in February, 2013, while it rose to
5.25 percent in March, 2013.

CPI Inflation

CPI Inflation

17
18

13.7

16
14

10.8

10.1

12
10

7.8

8
6
4
2
0

2008-09

2009-10

2010-11

Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics

2011-12

2012-13

CPI Inflation

My Opinion
President Zardari has pursued politics of reconciliation. He

tried strengthened democracy and had accomplishments

in the government legislation.
Unfortunately, the people of Pakistan have seen their
situation deteriorate significantly terms of basics like
access to jobs, electricity, water and sense of security in the
last 5 years. Fruits of democracy have been harvested by
the politicians, the judges and the media but remain out of
reach of the ordinary people. As a result, the people have
dealt a heavy defeat to President Zardari's Pakistan People's
Party, and sent him packing.