Top-down austerity

As a staunch advocate of fiscal discipline and economic reforms, I firmly believe that IMF-backed oversight is, in principle, essential for Pakistan’s macroeconomic stabilisation and financial credibility. However, the problem lies not in the intent of the IMF reforms – but in the way they are executed within our local context. Pakistan’s decades of unchecked spending, tax evasion and elite-driven economic policies have brought us to the edge of fiscal collapse. In this regard, IMF-enforced structural reforms are overdue steps towards financial sanity. Yet, it is deeply troubling that the burden of austerity continues to fall on the most vulnerable, as critical development budgets in education, healthcare and energy are slashed, while politically motivated schemes and extravagant allocations for parliamentarians seemingly remain untouched.

Revenue generation must come from progressive taxation and restructuring loss-making state-owned enterprises and not from squeezing the ordinary citizens or starving public services.

Majid Burfat

Karachi