Daily Times

After enjoying an infinitesimal small detour from the tried-and-tested bonhomie with the IMF, the ruling government is back at throwing everything in its treasury to curry favours.

Going by the beaming visuals of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as he blows dust off every trick in the playbook to woo the Fund for the release of stalled funds and a string of expenditure changes announced by the finance minister, a headway might appear on the horizon after all.

But while the programme gets restored, on the basis of which Pakistan may appear ready to step out of the gloomy shadow against other lenders, the government does not have any solace to provide the masses bearing a far greater burden. Newly announced tax measures are bound to dampen the fanfare of the historic “economic revival plan.”

Priorities matter. And by dumping a whole lot on an unbelievably restricted tax net, a clear message is being sent to all businesses: make use of all the loopholes in the code. Rampant concerns about unsustainable profitability cuts have drawn the ire of the business community while the common man has had his hands up in the air for quite some time now.

There hasn’t been much talk about the chronic fiscal problems as of yet. Simple arithmetic calculations might explain the need for a bailout to the tune of $5 billion but if little to no energy is invested to address the structural issues responsible for our perpetual balance-of-payment predicament and backbreaking inflation numbers, how long can the latest agreement be expected to fill over 249 million bellies? Pakistan is in no shape to afford yet another series of loans considering we already owe the world more than $100 billion.

It might be worth the authorities’ precious time to ponder over the delicate issue of debt sustainability. Without an effective blueprint to at least try to come out of our crippling trap, all thunder about bouncing back stronger may make for a delightful flight from reality. Nothing more. Nothing else. *