The monster of economy
By Azam Khalil

“After order and liberty, economy is one of the highest essentials of a free government…….Economy is always a guarantee of peace.” – Calvin Coolidge

After the May 11th general elections, it is expected that the Sharif brothers will make some efforts to bring the country out of the ongoing financial crisis. However, there are indications that instead of opting for radical social and economic reforms, they will not create a stir and, in fact, conduct the affairs of the state in a manner that can be defined as ‘business as usual’.
Needless to say, it is going to be more or less the same story with a few cosmetic measures, since the gap between available resources and expenditure is so great that it is simply not possible to transfer the massive resources that are required in case the lives of common Pakistani citizen is to improved.
Having said that, the financial managers, who are getting ready to prepare the next budget, are waiting for directions that could productively reverse the present situation and tilt it in favour of the poor masses.
Election rhetoric aside, the fact of the matter remains that Pakistan has lost about $80 billion in the war on terror. Yet, it has not been compensated by Western democracies, which have only provided lip service to the sacrifices made by this country in terms of men and material.
With the withdrawal of the US and Nato forces from Afghanistan immanent, Pakistan’s worsening economic crisis is not expected to improve immediately, as it would require more resources to handle the situation after their exit.
On top of this, the financial aid that is due to Islamabad by Washington has nearly dried up and only some of it that is pending has been released, creating further problems for Pakistani policymakers.
Besides this, it is unfortunate that only 1.7 million people in a country of 180 million are paying taxes. Out of them, about 1.4 million are employees, who have no other option, except to pay their income tax at the source.
The Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) has identified 3.8 million persons, who are eligible to pay their taxes, but have so far not done so creating serious difficulties for successive governments. How will the Sharif brothers deal with this issue will be seen in the first few months of their government.
In case they fail to net a sizeable chunk of tax evaders and bring them into the tax net, it may not be possible for the PML-N government to fulfil a major portion of its promises that were made to the people before the general elections.
So economic analysts believe that since the business community is the constituency of the Sharif brothers, it is likely that they may go slow on the issue of tax reforms, thereby, creating more difficulties for themselves and the country.
Another major issue that will require immediate attention is the bleeding national enterprises, like Pakistan Steel Mills, Pakistan International Airlines, Pakistan Railways, Shipping Corporation, etc, which consume about Rs 500 billion of the taxpayers money every year without showing any sign of recovery.
Similarly, the energy sector is limping that was responsible for a virtual breakdown of the Pakistan’s economic system due to various reasons. The most notable of them are power theft, inefficiency and corrupt practices, which have to be addressed on a war footing. Otherwise, the energy crisis will continue, which has the potential of exploding into social unrest posing a serious challenge to the democratic process.
One hopes that the new democratically-elected government will achieve a consensus about the crises facing the country and not hesitate to incorporate the suggestions given by its political adversaries, so that Pakistan’s economy could be strengthened.
It must be remembered that if disagreements between various political parties continue, it will not augur well for the state. Hopefully, they will adopt a non-partisan attitude and build up consensus so that Pakistan is able to overcome its economic woes as quickly as possible.

The writer has been associated with various newspapers as editor and columnist. At present, he hosts a political programme on Pakistan Television.

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-ne...ter-of-economy