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Money Matters

Dear tomatoes!

By Zeeshan Haider
Mon, 11, 19

For Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, economy is the way of managing fiscal and trade deficit and controlling inflation but for a layperson, it is about how to manage his/her finances to run the kitchen.

For Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, economy is the way of managing fiscal and trade deficit and controlling inflation but for a layperson, it is about how to manage his/her finances to run the kitchen.

So the Advisor to the Prime Minister should not necessarily know the price of kitchen items in the market and that’s why he had no idea about the price of tomatoes in the market when he came to tell the media about the government’s achievements on the economic front.

He guessed that tomatoes were being sold at Rs17/kg in Karachi while in reality they priced Rs300 to Rs350 rupees for a kilo.

The comment took no time going viral on social media, triggering jokes and sarcastic remarks from critics, prompting government, which is already under public pressure because of price hike, to do some damage-control.

The government allowed import of tomatoes from Iran for a month in the hope that it would bring down the price of the staple, which would eventually stabilise once tomatoes from the new crop reach the market.

Such bouts of unexpected increase in prices of essential items is not unusual and it often happens in India and elsewhere but the federal and provincial governments need to fully activate their price control mechanism to ensure that such fluctuation does not cause unbearable hardship for ordinary people.

The price control bodies must be fully authorised to launch a crackdown on hoarders who exploit common peoples’ vulnerabilities for their own benefits.

Political statements by authorities like ‘the exorbitant price hike is a conspiracy against government’ could not soothe public anger and the authorities need to take swift and urgent steps to stem the rot.

The present government, like others, has as usual blamed its predecessors’ “wrong” economic policies for the economic woes of the country.

There is no doubt the economy the government had inherited was in dire straits but after being in power for 14 months the previous policies could not be held solely responsible for the economic mess and the policies of the current government need to start yielding results in this time.

The present government’s policies have virtually crippled the growth and economy has almost stagnated. It has resulted in unemployment. The people at large could not bear the price hike and rising unemployment at a time.

Now the government has started mulling ways to accelerate growth as new round of tough economic measures would lead to recession.

The government is trying its best to lure private investment to generate employment opportunities and that’s why it is offering lucrative incentives to private sector to make investments in diverse fields.It is a welcome step but government needs to offer for some relief to common people while it is making big incentives to big entrepreneurs to invest in the country.

The government recently announced subsidy worth Rs6 billion for Utility Stories Corporation to ensure smooth supply of essential items to common people at affordable prices.

The government’s poverty alleviation initiatives with regard to Ehsaas programme are also laudable. The public is facing immense pressure in the wake of inflation and joblessness and the government needs to concentrate more on such initiatives.

Pakistan is basically an agro-based economy. Therefore, the government needs to give more attention to the development of agriculture sector.

In the initial days of his government, Prime Minister Imran Khan had promised that development of livestock sector would be his priority but so far no concrete steps seems have been taken for this as yet.

Development of industrial sector could not be ignored but Pakistan could not overlook the importance of agriculture which is considered the backbone of its economy.

The government needs to focus on scientific research in agriculture in order to produce new and cost-effective varieties of crop not only to meet its domestic needs but also to produce exportable surplus.

All it needs is close coordination and cooperation between federal and provincial governments as after 18th Amendment agriculture has become a provincial subject. Though Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) controls Punjab which caters to two-third of country’s agriculture production but the federal government needs to have closer coordination with Sindh too as it is the second most important agriculture region of the country.

The country is confronted with enormous economic challenges and all it needs is a better sync among the center and federating units to cope with these challenges.

The government and opposition have spent much of the past one year in petty political bickering but it is heartening to see that last week they put behind this animosity and amicable decided to do legislation in the parliament through mutual cooperation as government withdrew the ordinances it bulldozed through the National Assembly and agreed to get them passed through proper debate. In response, the opposition also agreed to withdraw its no-trust motion against deputy speaker.

This spirit of coordination needs to be maintained and both sides should join hands to legislate in public interest without wasting any further time.

The improved security situation of the country also needs to be exploited to bring in political and economic stability in the country. Political tensions in no way should overshadow the crucial matters relating to economic development and progress of the country.

Politics apart, the political leadership must be congratulated for the peaceful and amicable end of the JUI-F protest in Islamabad as it had triggered the fears that it would cripple the federal capital. Though the JUI-F has now shifted its protest movement to provinces but it is hoped that it would not create hurdles in the economic activities and would allow the life as usual to be run without any difficulty.

The opposition needs to set up shadow cabinet which should act as a watchdog on government’s performance in different sectors. Such activity would not only open a healthy debate on real issues faced by the people but also create awareness about the real problems faced by the populace.

Time has come for country’s leadership to show maturity in their conduct and performance.

The writer is a senior journalist based in Islamabad