Wasting dollars

This letter refers to the news report ‘Amendment to Import Policy Order 2022: Government to treat vehicles with 2,000km mileage as new ones’ (March 29, 2024). Another window has been opened to mint quick money and squander scarce dollars on the indiscriminate import of vehicles in ready-made condition.

The newly inducted finance minister seems to be nowhere in the picture as no plausible explanation has been given for the sudden decision while the dollar crisis shows no sign of easing. The perception one gets is that the country’s economy is being damaged to benefit influential groups and keep the nation on the crutches of the IMF in perpetuity. It therefore did not come as a surprise when the prime minister recently stated that another long term IMF program is inescapable after the expiry of the current Stand-by Arrangement.

Shaista Anwar Kirmani

Karachi