An article published on 31 October 2016 appeared in Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper with the headline: A
flurry of economic discourse. What does flurry mean?
A flurry is a ‘small swirling mass of something, especially snow or leaves,
moved by sudden gusts of winds’ according to Oxford Dictionaries. It is also a
swirl, whirl, eddy, billow, shower, gust, rush, burst, gale, squall or storm.
The Merriam-Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary defines flurry as ‘a brief and light
snowfall’ or ‘a brief period of excitement or activity’ or ‘a large amount of
something that happens or comes suddenly.’ Is there a ‘brief period of excitement’
in the economic discourse – in the discussions about economics in
Pakistan?
The first sentence of the article is ‘Islamabad witnessed a flurry of
policy discussions over the last week with foreign partners, the underlying
message being the need to launch a second generation of economic reforms to
build on the nascent stabilisation.’
The article describes the dialogue that was ‘made possible by 160 delegates
to the ministerial meeting of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation
(CAREC)’ and the visit of the President of the Asian Development Bank and the
Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The visit of the IMF
director, Christine Lagarde, to Pakistan was the first visit in 10
years. ‘In fact,’ the article stated, ‘it was after quite some time that
so many foreign dignatories had arrived within a week’s time and talked about
development, investment and growth in the entire region.’
CAREC countries include Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz
Republic, Mongolia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and
Georgia.
The article mentioned that ‘Among the CAREC members, Pakistan and
Kazakhstan were the only countries where banking sector vulnerabilities
declined over the last three years … on the positive side, the IMF noted that
the CAREC countries had now left behind the worst impact sustained from
external shocks and were now well positioned to initiate and support region
wide reform efforts.’ The article also mentioned CAREC collaborations in energy
export, such as gas and electricity, with ‘some fresh options … for further
strengthening the regional power market.’
The Scorecard for the Dawn
headline is 100% for, indeed, the discussions by the world’s top financial
banking administrators, whose members descended on Islamabad, the capital of
Pakistan, to discuss regional economics for a brief, but intense period,
clearly falls into the Merriam-Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary definition of
flurry as ‘a brief period of excitement or activity’ or ‘a large amount of
something that happens or comes suddenly.’
In addition, the author stated the word ‘flurry’ immediately in the first
sentence. The article also included several synonyms for ‘discourse,’ such as discussions,
message, dialogue, talked about, echoed similar views, presentation, called on,
noted that, reported that, and agreed. While the word ‘flurry’ is not a formal
economic term, in this context it is rather apt for the headline: A flurry of
economic discourse.
MARTINA NICOLLS is an international
aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of
Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet
(2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
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