PRIME Minister Imran Khan on Friday said that in addition to using its own resources, the government is raising funds because the economic impact of the Coronavirus crisis will “further worsen”. Speaking during a telethon held on a private television channel to collect donations for the Prime Minister’s Corona Relief Fund, the premier said that “nobody can predict whether the virus will go on for six months or eight months or even next year,” adding that countries need to prepare their systems to deal with the pandemic.
The Government has already launched a cash disbursement programme to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 on the poorest segment of the society but the amount is limited and for a specific period whereas, as pointed out by the PM, there are no indications as yet as to how long the crisis would persist. It is understood that the poor, vulnerable and disadvantaged sections of the society cannot be left at the mercy of circumstances and the authorities have to mobilize resources from all conceivable avenues to meet the challenge. The Government also moved quickly in approaching the multilateral institutions for assistance and their response is encouraging. However, it has to be kept in mind that the assistance is not unlimited and it will be in the shape of loans, which means further addition in the burden of debt. The best option would be to mobilize local resources but any recourse of new taxation or addition in the existing one would mean putting unbearable burden on the common man and also this would negate the efforts being made by the Government to provide relief to the masses at this critical juncture. Prime Minister has instituted a relief fund and it is hoped that well-to-do people would make generous contribution to the fund for the sake of the poor. There are billionaire individuals and companies that have the capacity to contribute billions and they should do so as is being done by their counterparts elsewhere in the world. Donations worth over Rs. 200 million were made during the live television transmission, which shows people are more than willing to support a good cause provided they are assured their money would be spent judiciously.
