Atif Mian warns remittances near 10% of GDP are dangerous
At a Harvard panel with the finance minister, the Princeton economist said celebrating remittances near 10% of GDP locks in a model that keeps the exchange rate skewed against exporters.
Atif Mian told a Harvard Pakistan Conference panel that remittance policy helps elites “live off DHA better.”
He said remittances are close to 10% of GDP and nearly match export earnings.
He called remittance dependence “particularly dangerous” and said policy papers wrongly aim to raise them further.
He linked an overvalued rupee to elite gains from land and imports, and to weaker export incentives.
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, former SBP governor Reza Baqir and Nobel laureate Daron Acemoglu shared the stage.