AS there was no let up in the protests against the inflated electricity bills, the Government thought it appropriate to increase substantially the prices of the POL products, which are expected to take the level of inflation to new heights. The latest fortnightly review of the POL prices resulted in yet another wholesale hike in the rates of petrol and diesel that were already on the higher side. The increase announced on Thursday has taken the price of petrol to Rs 305.36 per litre and that of the diesel to Rs 311.84, meaning thereby an upward revision of Rs 14.91 and Rs 18.44 per litre respectively as compared to the prices of the outgoing fortnight. The Government did not announce any change in the prices of kerosene oil and light speed diesel but this will have no or negligible consequence as only petrol and diesel matter in the economic activities.
Together with an unprecedented hike in electricity bills, the massive increase in the prices of POL products have added to the economic woes of the people, especially the fixed income groups whose income is eroding with the passage of almost every day. There was already no price stability and profiteering was at the peak due to weak governance and the latest moves would play havoc with the family budget. As if all this was not enough, the rupee has been left to be reduced to nothing as speculators and profiteers are exploiting the situation fully and this became evident on Thursday again when the currency maintained its losing streak for the eighth consecutive day, crossing another psychological barrier of Rs 305 against the US dollar in the inter-bank market while in the open market the rupee plunged to the all time low of Rs 323 a dollar. The currency’s free fall encouraged the gold pricing body to jack up the commodity’s price by Rs 3,400 to Rs 239,800 per tola (11.66 grams). With the fresh surge, the precious metal is just Rs 200 away from the record high of Rs 240,000 touched about four months ago in early May 2023. There are consistent reports for the last many months that the currency devaluation has much to do with the smuggling of the dollar to neighbouring Afghanistan and inability of the authorities and institutions concerned to curb this illegal activity relays an impression of the system failure. No one would differ with Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar when he says that his Government is committed to fulfil its obligations to the global lender (IMF) as such a recourse has negative implications for the economy but the IMF accord is surely no hurdle in the way of administrative measures needed to curb rampant smuggling of dollar to Afghanistan. Until and unless the exchange rates stabilize, there can’t be price stability as volatility in exchange rate has a direct impact on the electricity tariff and pricing of the POL products. As for inflated bills, it seems the Government is not much concerned about the plight of the people as is reflected from the remarks of the PM that consumers will have to pay the bills. In fact, honest consumers have been paying their bills regularly not for years but what about the defaulters and those involved in electricity theft. Here again, honest consumers are being punished because of the inability of the Government to check theft and make all categories of consumers pay their bills honestly.
There is also great resentment to the free electricity usage by some segments of the society but instead of taking a firm decision to undo this wastage of national wealth, the Prime Minister has been misfed about such privileges. It is common knowledge that some privileged classes enjoy not just free electricity units but also free petrol, free gas and get a handsome amount as entertainment but the Prime Minister insists the facility of free units is available to WAPDA employees alone. Instead of taking refuge behind lame excuses, the Government should withdraw such facilities as those enjoying such perks get enough salary to bear this burden. If the Government is empowered to take difficult decisions, it is also empowered to take benevolent decisions to undo injustices and provide relief to the over-burdened segment of the society. The policy of increasing rates and prices of every utility is no answer to the economic challenges of the country as this is creating confusion and uncertainty. It was because of the cumulative effect of the governmental measures that the stock market almost crashed on Thursday, losing 1242 points. Hoarding, smuggling and rupee depreciation is bringing more misery to consumers as prices of sugar, pulses, ghee/cooking oil and other imported items continue to surge. The price of sugar has jumped to Rs 190 a kilogram while prices of different pulses have witnessed an increase of at least Rs 20 a kilo. Reports also suggest that Iranian goods and oil continue to be smuggled into Pakistan causing huge losses to the national exchequer but little relief for the people. The rampant smuggling to and from Afghanistan/Iran is one of the major hurdles in the way of economic stabilization and the situation is unlikely to change until and unless effective measures are taken to eliminate the menace. The task is not difficult but it requires will and commitment on the part of the Government and its institutions concerned to enforce the writ of the state at all costs. Why should we allow economic murder of our own people for the sake of smugglers and others? The level of resentment being demonstrated by the people should serve as a warning that there was no time to lose. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Revival is assigned the task of short, medium and long term recommendations for improvement in the prevailing chaotic situation. We hope it would prioritize firming up short term proposals to address the unrest caused by both real and artificial price-hike. The capacity of the people to absorb shocks has exhausted and this should be the prime consideration in devising a new strategy. It is also time the Government should hand over discos to the provinces on a fast-track basis as this has the potential to bring down the tariff at least for consumers of the efficient discos.
