Our economy is furnished with a lot of inherited structural problems. The bureaucratic setup in the country has always contributed negatively. The geo-political conditions have always been unfavourable. In such situations, the government has to spend a heavy amount on administration and law and order.
Moreover, the rising population has led to a rising demand for water, power, shelters, education, roads and health etc which has necessitated increase in expenditures. Above all, military expenditure is a big burden on the economy.
On the other side, we as a nation are corrupt and are not prepared to pay taxes. Tax evasion is a huge problem in our country. In such a state of affairs, to meet rising expenditures, the government has to depend upon deficit financing i.e. printing of new money, bank borrowings and non-bank borrowings etc.
he outstanding domestic loans against the Government of Pakistan are more than Rs 1600 billion, not to speak of the interest on them. In the federal budget of the country, we find that 90 to 95 percent of total revenue budget is spent on three mainstays: defence expenditures, repayment of loans and interest charges and on administration.
Our administration is power-hungry and least interested in socio-economic uplift of the country. Bureaucrats have a long chain of public vehicles, capacious and furnished bungalows and an army of servants at state expense.
It is because of this obsolete and defective administrative set-up that the forces of change have not been allowed to set into motion.
Unfortunately, there is no political or administrative will to cut down public expenditures and assign our scarce budgetary resources to much needed areas like education and development. The colour and complexion of our rulers and bureaucrats may have changed but they rule with the same colonial mindset.
KOMAL ATA
Lahore
