There are things you just shouldnt say even if you mean them. US Ambassador Cameron Munter must have ignored the basic principle of diplomacy when he tried to justify American meddling in Pakistans financial and governance matters for being its largest aid provider in a lecture at an Islamabad-based think tank the other day. And he sounded too blunt when he said: We appear to be intrusive because we care, we are the largest donor. Our aid comes as outright grant of assistance which is different from loans.
Mr Munters comment comes at a time when the United States has been pressurising Pakistan to adopt tough economic reforms that include broadening the tax base and improving revenue generation. Only a day earlier, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who has been pushing Pakistan hard to improve its fiscal management, termed the reversal of the recent fuel price hike a mistake. This, together with a similar reaction from the IMF, completely disregarded Prime Minister Gilanis explanation to US Envoy Frank Ruggiero that Washington and other international donors should remain mindful of the objective condition that the government could not cause further hardship to the ordinary people. It has already deferred imposition of the RGST. The extent of the US interference in our domestic affairs may be annoying but the donors have a valid argument that international assistance given to Pakistan should not be used for covering the citizens not paying their share in taxes. That burden among taxpayers is unevenly distributed is confirmed by the fact that despite all reforms we have less than two percent of registered tax payers in the country.
It is time the government examined the issues related to fiscal management more thoughtfully. The only way to protect our sovereignty and wriggle out of the pressures coming from international donors for tightening our regulatory policies is to take measures, no matter how unpopular, to help the country achieve economic self-reliance.