A little remarked, under-appreciated endeavour of the PTI govt has been their attempt to fix the key economic regulatory institutions. In general, the best thing a govt can do in the economic sphere is to regulate well, creating an enabling environment for economic activity. 1/n

These institutions need professional staffing for the capacity to deliver. Regulation, is a specialized, technical job. A persistent theme of govts over the years was to run these critical institutions with generalists (including DMG officers), or without a full team in place 2/n

Let’s look at three institutions State Bank of Pakistan, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan and Ccompetition Commission of Pakistan. The SBP after a 10 year gap (2009-19) has an PhD economist at the helm, which is the global norm for Central Bankers 3/n

These 10 years saw 5 governors, 2 of some merit (who ended up resigning within 1 year & 2 years, respectively), others of indifferent quality (yes, including a DMG officer). I remember looking across the border at a rockstar like Raghuram Rajan at RBI, feeling, well, wistful 4/n

Currently the SBP governor is assisted by 3 Deputy Governors – a very experienced regulator, a very senior banker and a PhD economist with intl multilateral experience. I don’t remember in recent times having either 3 DGs or a stronger, fuller team in place at the top 5/n

SECP is required by law to have 5-7 commissioners at all times, including the Chairperson. Infact it has historically, for long periods of time, had less than the full complement of 5 commissioners. It has also been led by Acting Chairmen for significant periods of time 6/n

SECP currently has the minimum 5 commissioners in place. By most industry accounts (including the regulatees, who are never kindly disposed towards regulators) the SECP has never seen a better and stronger team at the top in many years 7/n

The SECP Policy Board has also been more active than ever in its entire history. While there has been some tension over the last two years between the policy board and the commission the performance and productivity of the SECP has been visibly improved 8/n

The CCP after a promising start in 2007 and early years of dynamism, went into limbo for years: lifeless, invisible, irrelevant. It has a new team at the top since July. The new Chairperson, with top notch credentials, had served in the same capacity in the earlier years. 9/n

At CCP the strength of the commission is now 4. Interestingly 3 of the 4 are women, including the Chairperson. Kudos to the govt. Much work remains of course on the regulatory side - OGRA, PEMRA, NEPRA, PTA etc all have issues of capacity and direction which need attention. 10/10