Budget blunders

The 2024-2025 budget has crushed the already burdened and destitute families and safeguarded the privileged. Instead of bringing respite for the have-nots from undue inflation, the budget has once again compounded their agonies by imposing new/additional levies on electricity, petrol, diesel, grocery items, property, etc. The major reason behind the surge in taxes is to secure a new IMF bailout to keep a moribund economy afloat for a while longer. The fault lines in the current power system have been made clear by this year's disastrous budget, with the government's consistent unwillingness to put an end to the exemptions it continues to provide to the bureaucracy. Similarly, the retail and agricultural industries, which hold significant political sway, are largely excluded from taxes. Some exemptions have been removed thanks to the IMF's insistence, but still, there is an endless list of protections that have not been taken away yet. The government should give up its flawed policies and steer the economy out of its everlasting state of crisis.

Muhammad Ahmad Sajid

Lahore