In the wake of endless criticism over inability to manage the country’s economic affairs, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf(PTI) government has resorted to breaking up the cartels which control the prices of essential goods, particularly food items. According to a statement issued by the Finance Ministry, Laws are to be reviewed in order to ensure that price control mechanisms are able to prevent cartelisation and hoarding. Of course it remains to be seen how viable new laws will be in terms of implementation.
The inflation rate hit a five percent high at 9.41 percent during the past month. Economists have pointed out at the recent hike in petroleum goods prices as the cause. Petrol and diesel prices were raised by 6 per liter. The effect of this has been compounded by government borrowing from the state bank.
To make matters worse, the country may soon find itself knocking on the doors of the IMF once again. On Thursday, Finance Minister Asad Umer stated while addressing a special Social Media Question and Answers session, that Pakistan now has to choose between bankruptcy and another IMF loan.
Of course this would mean there would be nothing particularly new about the management of the economy in PTI’s Naya Pakistan. The country has been going back to the fund since 1958. And there is no indication that anything has been achieved to make this loan different. The country continues to import more than it exports, and increasing revenue collection through better income tax collection remains a distant dream as well. This is made clear by the fact that the FBR has failed to achieve its collection target once again, missing the mark by Rs 318 billion.
These are the real issues facing the country today. And any legislation the government may push until they are resolved may do some good, would still not be able to bring long term stability. And another IMF loan taken without fixing these issues would only put Pakistanis under further strain in the long run. As such, it is likely that ordinary Pakistanis will not see any real economic relief any time soon. *