Daily Times

The slanging match between the present and the former finance ministers would not have been anything out of the ordinary. After all, the serving financial czar and Sharif family’s blue-eyed Ishaq Dar had left far too big of boots when it came to making headlines and announcing populist “reliefs” (something, he never even attempted to be humble about).

The apprentice, on the other hand, struggled to step out of the shadow and while he might have cracked the nut on paper, his theories did not sit well with either friends or foes. The usual sitting duck, 230 million Pakistanis, in the meantime, did not know where their economy was heading, when trying to make ends meet, a month earlier.

Similar is their utter confusion today when they have no clue about the price they would have to pay once the sweeteners stop trickling. For now, Miftah Ismail has put aside the politeness and gone all guns blazing at the decision to freeze fuel levies. “Reckless,” he thundered, imploring his party-led government to consider the implications of a growth model that only facilitates the top one per cent.

Giving them Rs 570 billion worth of loans at a one per cent interest rate does not only lead to the import of machinery crucial for industrialisation but also “consumables for themselves and their families from abroad.” Points well-taken, because it is only the lower and middle-income groups whose lives are at stake, the minute cauldron threatens to spill over. However, what should have been pursued as excellent feedback from someone who oversaw matters from the hot seat in the most extraordinary (and thankless) era, Mr Dar stuck with the notorious “I Know” syndrome; beating about the bush with the glories of the days gone by.

Economy–the fundamental lifeline of a country–is not so trivial for it to be used as personal resume-building or ego-stroking projects. Trying to hold his ground over fuel prices or the exchange rate is a commendable initiative, but only if the country’s precious dollar reserve is not at stake. Simply peddling a narrative that wins voters for the PML(N) at the expense of the treasury’s viability should never be pursued, no matter how golden the growth curve may seem. *