Owning up

Charges of mismanagement have dogged the PTI government since Imran Khan took oath as the country's 22nd prime minister on August 18, 2018. Thenceforth the country has been rocketed by a series of crises, conveniently sourced to the previous administration's flawed policies. These include a historically high current account deficit , a massive rise in utility rates as an outcome of negotiations with the IMF, diminishing employment, spiraling inflation and last but not least a failure to project demand and forestall shortages that may lead to massive escalation in the prices of our major food items.

Today, there is an ongoing wheat crisis and an emerging sugar crisis whereby the prices of these two locally produced commodities have escalated to beyond what is affordable by the common man. What must be a source of concern for analysts is the routine dismissal by the PTI government of these as artificial shortages created by politically connected mafias with the objective of securing runaway profits. However, a government cannot disown its own responsibility in taking decisions that allow for rising prices, creating the opportunity for runaway profits to be made. It is obvious that serious issues of mismanagement in the country remain, which can only be solved once the government owns up to its previous shortcomings.

Qazi Jamshed Alam Siddiqui

Lahore