There are those times when one is thrust in an environment where nationalism is at such a height that one is forced to look deep within oneself, review the attitude of your own people and environment.
Todays Pakistan is ravaged by natural disasters of immeasurable magnitude. The devastating floods descending even before the chance of recovery from the deadly earthquake. Add to this the aftermath of almost a decade of frivolous financial management and the political turmoil of the past five years. The need for commitment and belief in nationalism has never been greater.
Essential reforms have been willfully ignored and cosmetic changes were utilized for short-term political gain without sensitivity to the consequences. A huge development and financial hole has been created. Without sacrifice and selfless thinking there is no solution, leave alone any quick fixes. The rot had set in; we need to now cure the disease before it becomes fatal.
There is no doubt that the elite have used every method to minimize payments to the State. Not just this, but no attempt has been spared to secure further subsidies and fiscal advantages detrimental to the State and of great personal benefit to a handful. Pakistan has become a welfare state for exactly the wrong beneficiaries. The elite prosper and the poor get poorer.
Pakistans finance minister has extensive reforms in mind. His thoughts need to be completely focused on the modus operandi of implementation and not on whether reforms should be implemented. These are the essence of stabilising the ad-hoc, superfluous economy in the longer term. He must do this without looking over his shoulder.
He has repeatedly, now and in the past, recounted the amazing natural endowments and assets that Pakistan possesses and is an exponent and great believer of the theory and that these converted into revenue and development opportunities will change the fortunes of the country. Here is his chance to bring this together. To achieve this, the invaluable support of all echelons of political and business leadership is of essence. Pakistans interests must be served first.
Priorities for development must be based purely on need and merit. There is no room for whimsical political public expenditure at this point. Perhaps a couple years down the road, closer to election, if the belt is really tightened now and reforms are positively initiated, the possibility to indulge in projects which are considered a luxury today may arise.
There is a colossal drain on the national exchequer by non-performing public sector enterprises. This needs to be stopped immediately and such entities disinvested at whatever cost, subject of course to transparent process.
Withdrawal of subsidies and implementation of a tax regime on agro produce cannot be ignored any longer. Revenues from agro produce to the extent of PKR 32 Billion can be accessed with zero collection cost. This proposal was even considered prior to the current budget, but one can safely assume the agro-political lobby played its disruptive role.
It is essential that the superior courts rely purely on the interpretation of the law and review of the economy and not be drawn by emotional and populous litigation with the sole purpose to stall processes and benefit a handful. Court intervention should only be initiated if absolute proof of poor governance or misdemeanor is made available.
We must reiterate that any reforms need support from all echelons of government and political leadership on both sides of the divide. This needs to be complete and selfless. The issue here is not of scoring points but working towards sustainable development and the future of our people and country.
There is a dire need for Econ ministries to highlight Key Performance Indicators and submit valid and transparent monitoring statistics on a quarterly basis in order to keep the nation abreast of the current status of the economy. Government must ensure that figure fudging has finally come to an end.
It must be quickly agreed that miracles are not in the offing but that reforms must be addressed to providing the ultimate fillip at the appropriate time.
There is a clamor from the external sources providing relief and aid that Pakistans financial managers lack the will to raise funds from internal resources for reconstruction efforts. They have openly stated that the elite must be taxed. And they are not wrong. The net must be expanded without fear, let or hindrance. We need to serve our nation.
Pakistan is walking a tightrope in this war against terror and in the wake of yesterdays election results in the US there is likely to be even greater pressure to deliver. We cannot afford to be sidelined in the Af-Pak process nor do we need to be further pressured. Perhaps, we need to do more in this war; that is a perception that we cannot change unilaterally. But we can certainly lay the foundations for reform and rigorously implement them.
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