Further changes, including taxation of land and recovery of debts, were initiated by the caretaker government. These reforms have been pursued by Benazir Bhutto, bringing a degree of prosperity, although the budget deficit will call for unpopular spending cuts or revenue increases. Agriculture remains the most important economic sector, employing about 50 per cent of the workforce and accounting for nearly 70 per cent of export revenue. Wealth, however, is unevenly distributed. Most farmers eke a living from small patches of land while a few wealthy landowners control large acreages.
Wheat is grown, but still has to be imported.
Rice production is stagnant and the cotton crop, traditionally a valuable export earner, has failed in recent years. More positively, irrigation schemes in northern valleys have produced massively increased yields of crops such as apples and potatoes. Pakistan plans to develop its road system, which will allow potentially lucrative trade with the newly independent Muslim republics of the former Soviet Union.