THE Federal Cabinet, which met in Islamabad on Tuesday
with Prime Minister Imran Khan in the chair, deliberated
upon and disposed of heavy agenda including review of the situation arising out of recent surge in Coronavirus cases, export of personal protective equipment and hand sanitizer, key economic indicators, sugar inquiry report and availability of wheat and flour in the country in the backdrop of alarming increase in the price of flour during the last few days. Realizing the economic challenges and the need for finding a way out, the Prime Minister directed the cabinet members to reduce unnecessary expenditure in their respective departments and ministries keeping in view current economic situation and focus specially on expediting the process of reforms and improving performance of government.
As the Government has completed two years, it is time for inward looking to analyse the impact of the policies and programmes of the incumbent government on the life of the masses and overall economy of the country. It is a fact that the PTI Government opted for a bold and courageous path by introducing harsh and bitter measures in the long-term interest of the country. It is because of this policy and strategy that today current account deficit was at the lowest at 3.3 billion dollars i.e. 1.5% of GDP, which is not a mean achievement if seen in the backdrop of 11.4 billion dollars during last fiscal year, constituting 4.7% of the GDP. The cabinet was informed that in the financial year 2019-20, exports stood at $16.4 billion and imports at $19.7 billion while service trade balance stood at Rs2.6 billion. Other economic indicators were also satisfactory as remittances of $18.8 billion were received in the financial year 2019-20 and the foreign exchange reserves stood at $18.7 billion at the end of April which showed that despite the Corona epidemic, the situation on the external side had improved. The directions of the Prime Minister for expenditure control and reforms are reflective of his resolve to continue with stabilization measures. However, it has to be seen to what extent the Government succeeds in realizing this cherished objective in view of challenges thrown by Covid-19, which has forced the Government to offer special incentives and make allocations for provision of relief to the people. There is also a limit to expenditure control as it affects performance of the ministries and departments. However, the Government definitely needs to focus on reforms especially in organizations that are frequently dubbed as white elephants. The present government came to power with clear agenda of reforms but the process is very slow and the Prime Minister might consider frequent interaction with ministries and departments concerned to expedite the process. In this regard, the declaration of the Prime Minister that in the light of the recommendations of the Sugar Commission inquiry report, steps would be taken to “rectify the flaws in the system” sparks confidence that at least in this sector exploitation of people would end. However, the cabinet has to be watchful as vested interests are at work and they obstruct trickling down of benefits to the people of any major initiative of the Government. This is evident from the fact that the price of sugar has not come down despite inquiry report and price of wheat flour has also gone up mysteriously despite abundant availability of the commodity in the country. The cabinet was expected to take serious notice of the situation in view of the reality that wheat is staple food of the people and any increase in its price affects all segments of the society but it merely formed a Committee on the grave issue. There was also a comprehensive report on manipulation of prices of wheat and its availability but it is not getting due attention of the authorities concerned. The manipulative tactics adopted by vested interests and inability of the officials concerned to regulate things also put question marks over decision of the Government to allow export of personal protective equipment and hand sanitizers and that too at a time when doctors and medical staff are complaining of not yet receiving equipment in sufficient qualities and people made to pay exorbitantly for masks and sanitizers as compared to their prices before the prevailing crisis.
