AS COVID-19 started killing both people and the economy, PTI Government has moved swiftly and aptly to announce a comprehensive package to mitigate sufferings of the people and stimulate the economy. The carefully prepared package is expected to safeguard the most vulnerable segments of society and alleviate the economic losses to businesses and industries as it takes care of the plight of the working class, low-income families, export sector, medical workers and provision of relief through Utility Stores and staggered payment of electricity and gas bills during these difficult times. The Government surely deserves credit for creating room for Rs 1.2 trillion economic and financial package despite resource constraints and hopefully it would serve the intended purpose. The package included reducing prices of petrol, diesel and kerosene by Rs 15 per litre, providing Rs 3,000 monthly stipend for daily wagers, and improving liquidity crunch for exporters and industrialists. As the industry had started laying off workers, the Government has conveyed to industrialists that it is there to help them improve the liquidity position but they will have to undertake not to retrench the workforce. The government has allocated Rs150 billion for providing Rs 3,000 monthly help to daily wagers and the Centre would also involve provinces to expand coverage of the programme to maximum beneficiaries. The government has increased additional allocation of Rs 50 billion for Utility Stores Corporation (USC) so that provision of essential food items at affordable prices could be ensured. The Premier also announced allocation of Rs 280 billion for procurement of eight million tons of wheat as it will help in providing cash to farmers. Prices of edible oil and pulses had gone up significantly and the decision to give tax breaks on their import would help bring them down. Reduction of prices of POL products by Rs 15 a litre was, however, much less than what people were expecting in the backdrop of steep fall in the price of oil in the international market. There were expectations that the prices would be reduced between Rs 35 to 40 a litre and Opposition Leader Mian Shahbaz Sharif was demanding seventy percent cut in prices. People were groaning under the burden of skyrocketing inflation and the decision to pass on due relief to people on account of oil prices would have helped addressed this problem besides serving the objective of stimulating the economy. Similarly, genuine reduction in the prices of POL products would have resulted into substantial cut in the power tariff, which would have been much better option than announcing payment of bills in instalments as consumers would find it difficult to clear both instalments as well as latest bill for the month. Pakistan badly needs medical equipment especially diagnostic kits and ventilators to effectively fight the menace of Corona Virus. With this in view, allocation of necessary resources for National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) for procurement of equipment would go a long way in boosting capacity of the country to sustain this war. Allocation of Rs.50 billion for procurement of personal protective equipment for health workers was also one of the emergencies as health professionals are not expected to handle the growing influx of Corona Virus patients without adequate safeguards. Doctors were already threatening that they would be unable to attend patients at OPD in the absence of provision of protective equipment, which should have been arranged much earlier for understandable reasons. It is also encouraging that at long last the State Bank of Pakistan has also listened to the genuine demand of the business community to bring down the policy rate. The rate has been brought down to 11% but there is unanimity of view among analysts and the opposition parties that it should be further reduced to single digit as many countries have announced zero interest rate in view of the challenge thrown by Covid-19 to their economies. An incentive package for the construction industry was long overdue and this has once again been delayed. It is, however, to be seen whether or not the proposed package would produce the desired results as construction activity too has been hit hard by lockdown that has disrupted supplies. The All Parties Conference (APC) convened by two major opposition parties through video link has come out with some good suggestions and the Government ought to incorporate them into its overall strategy
