An expensive welfare state

The PTI-led government has been caught on the wrong foot and is now in a fix. The first statement that echoed from the new government, soon after it took office, was that it would provide relief to people. This turned out to be untrue. The government should have told the truth that economic challenges are huge and tough and painful measures are inevitable. It should have expressed that for at least the next two years, the nation should be ready to make sacrifices. Belt-tightening and living within the means should have been the ruling party’s slogan. Now, electricity and gas rates have been raised massively and people are rightly agitated.

Also, no tangible economic measures have been announced to manage both fiscal deficit and current account gap. A number of taskforces have been set up to deliberate and procrastinate instead of taking critical decisions. Perhaps, the novices in the government team are too naïve to comprehend the looming challenges while being wary of implementing radical steps. The public is being made to believe that bringing the illegal wealth stashed abroad by Pakistanis is the panacea for surmounting the economic problems. This is wishful thinking.

Arif Majeed

Karachi