Pakistan, July 31 -- Every time Pakistan runs short of money, the conversation follows a familiar script. Borrow more. Tax more. Seek another IMF programme. Ask a friendly government for a deposit to shore up reserves. Almost nobody in that conversation asks the question a Chief Financial Officer asks first: what do we already own, and why is it not working harder?

This is not a rhetorical flourish. It reflects a genuine blind spot in how Pakistan conducts its economic debate. Budget season fixates on the income statement - tax collection, the fiscal deficit, subsidies, debt servicing, the terms of the next multilateral programme. The national balance sheet barely gets a mention. Yet the state sits on federal and provincial land, railway...