Sir: The federal budget for 2014-15 was as expected. It is consistent with the government’s stated economic policies, is supposed to be pro-business, and it did not levy further indirect taxes on our already overtaxed consumer sector. This was the platform on which the current government ran during its election campaign and that it has remained faithful to. If only it had also managed to inject some creative and innovative strategies, some long-term thinking, and some genuine restructuring proposals, then we might have gotten somewhere. The biggest problem we have is that Pakistan’s undocumented (grey and black) economy is so large and it has never been taxed or documented. From small shopkeepers to smugglers, no one pays income tax, few pay electricity and water bills, and none of them care. Indeed why should they when they think that all the money goes into the pockets of corrupt ministers and politicians who apparently do not have the grey matter needed to formulate policy. Intelligence is sorely lacking in our governments, this one, the last, and the one before. If only this country’s leadership, military or civilian, had ever read a book in their lives, we might have a better run country.
SABA ALI
Karachi
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