My interview was conducted on 4th Feb. 2015. I was a bit petrified since the panel can ask any question under the sun. I was the first interviewee on that date. I am not a very ambitious person. Moreover, for me allocation is more important than securing a top notch group. This paradigm may be construed as defensive, however, on another level it can also be judged as realistic.

The first question asked by Chairman Sb. It was the same question that was asked in my psychological assessment. The question related to the oil crisis. My response was an elaborate one. I stated that the real problem lies in the circular debt, these ultimately led to the choking of LC lines, default and subsequently bail out by the Finance Ministry. Furthermore, the non payment of dues were exacerbated as oil prices during the last decade hovered around record levels. This in context of our high production costs resulted in subsidies, late payment further aggravated the demand - supply dynamics. The next question asked by chairman sb was, what are your priorities.

The interview then went to the court of Ms. Batool. She asked a question regarding democracy being the best system. I answered, indeed democracy is the best system as history of world is replete with examples where democracy triumphed over autocracy. I mentioned the examples of Athens against Persians. Athen a democratic polity repulsed the onslaught of the mammoth achaeminid king Xerces. Moreover, in World War II democratic world stood against fascism. Therefore, I believe democracy is the only solution.

Her next question was, why democracy has failed in pakistan. I replied, the failure of democracy is in the false interpretation of history. Tragically, we believe our history started with the Arab invasion. However, the thesis presented by Aitezaz Ahsan is apt, our history is deeper. We do not look up to the democratic village life of India, neither we look upon the reign of Harsha Vardhan or Ashoka, whose benevolent rule was directed towards the welfare of the people. This myopic approach has led to a complete alienation from the sublime concept of democracy. She asked another question, which I do not remember.

Then came Wajid Rana sahib. He uttered a couple of statements regarding bureaucrats being pygmies. I disagreed with the statement. My response was that bureaucrats are selected thorough competitive exams, they are trained to perform specialized tasks and they have predefined cadres that provide an opportunity to compartmentalize activities. His another question wasr regarding Bhutto and his Islamization. I replied, that Bhutto was falsely castigated for Islamization, the process had started way before, when Objective resolution was passed. Moreover, Bhutto was a populist leader and he represented the will of the people.

He asked have you read the monetary policy? I replied yes. he asked do you know that the net quarterly borrowing of the government are zero. How do you justify your stance that government is printing money. I replied, Indeed sir, the government has zeroed out the borrowing from the central bank but it is injecting money through OMOs into the financial market. This liquidity is inturn used by the banks to buy T bills and bonds, which in turn is helping a profligate government. He said, then what is the difference between Quantitative easing that US is doing? Isn't it the same thing. I said, QE occurs when interest rates have bottomed out. Secondly, if we do not curtail our expenses, our Debt to GDP ratio will balloon like PIGS. He asked what are PIGS, I said, Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain, the southern peripheral countries of Eurozone.

Mr. Wajid Rana, then asked what is the reason for circular debt? I replied, that circular debt emanated due to the high cost of electricity production, as we have energy mix skewed in favor of thermal production. Line losses magnify, due to high cost of production, the government has to dole out subsidies that are both inefficient and ineffective. He said, No, this is not the right answer. I then said, that circular debt is also due to the choking of credit lines of banks. He again said, you are not zeroing down on the problem. Finally, I said Circular debt was due to the non recovery of dues from customers. He said,yes now you have nailed it.

Shewww....thank god Wajid Rana was done. But he had one more question. he said, that the power is moving from pole to pole, explain? I said, yes sir, the global economic and military balance is shifting towards the eastern hemisphere. The phenomenal rise of China is testament that pax americana has ended. China has a nominal GDP of 8 trillion dollars with 7 - 8 percent growth China is expected to overtake US as the biggest economy. I further added that CHina is entering into multi lateral trade pacts like Free economic Zone to counter Trans pacific trade agreement of US. Moreover, China has established New development bank and Asian investment and infrastructure bank to counter IMF and World bank.

Finally, came Lehri sahib,

he asked about OPEC and it's decision of not cutting oil prices. I replied, OPEC is a cartel but Saudi Arabia wanted to defend it's market share against the shale gas producer of US. Moreover, It is also perceived as a geostrategic and geo political move to hurt the economic interests of Russia and Iran. Whereas Iran has sponsored proxies in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, the Saudis are apprehensive. Since, they have cheap cost of production, they act as a swing producer. This is the reason why oil markets are glutted and prices are falling.

Lehri sahib, asked another question. He asked, Do you agree with China's president visit to Pakistan on 23 March. I said, yes sir. This is a good move, we will show this to our enemies namely India and Taliban proxies that indeed, we have the support of a growing power. This will thwart India's ambitions in the Indian Ocean. Somewhere, I said that I am a huge fan of Gen. Raheel Sharif. Wajid rana sahib asked, How? I said, this is because he has taken the war to the terrorists and reinforced the concept of army being a force in being.

Lastly, he asked me about my choice of books. He asked why I have chosen German and French classics. I replied, I chose French because of their aesthetics and german due to rationality.

The interview lasted for 30 minutes. It was a fast paced affair. The rest is upto god, I tried my best.