CHITRAL: The country is threatened with bankruptcy due to the authorized unrealistic overhead government spendings. The damage done by unleashed spending by the government in the form of visible and hidden lavish perks/privileges of it’s functionaries from top to bottom counts even more than the underhand corruption. Considering the government treasury as a war booty and blowing it away in the form of visible and hidden perks to government functionaries including armed forces, deals a big blow to the public exchequer.
These days there is much hype about large foreign investment coming into the country in near future. It is a pity that our rulers brag about it as if they are earning it personally. Any amount of foreign investment/aid will fall short of catering for our lavish spending on overheads by the government.
Some critics say that reducing government spending and bringing austerity will not make much difference, which is totally wrong, and this false perception is spread by the bureaucracy which actually rules from behind their desks. The savings that can be brought about by abolishing free petrol, electricity, big and many vehicles, bloated overstaffing, and enforcing fuel and electricity rationing can save enough money to pay back the IMF loans, expert economists opine.
As imposing austerity emergency affects the rulers themselves and is vehemently opposed by the bureaucracy as mentioned earlier, they don’t talk about it and instead beat about the bush showing lollipops of outside aid funds.
The present Afghan model is a gleaming example of what austerity can do. A war battered Afghanistan is economically much healthier than us. Their currency is four times stronger than Pakistan because their rulers use plastic chairs and tables for official conferences and ride in rickshaws to the Presidency compared to the shamefully opulent style of our rulers.
When rulers don’t feel for the people to the extent that they after putting the country in trouble due to their continued excesses, are not even ready to relinquish luxuries, let alone bear slightest hardship, the country will surely descend into the abyss of miscarriage. God save Pakistan from further putrefaction .. CN report,
2 thoughts on “Saving own resources more important than foreign investment”
I run short of words to comment on what you have written about abolishing the lavish perks enjoyed by our civil and military beurocracy. The primary reason of our economic woes are these unnecessory lavish facilities enjoyed by our elites like the wealthiest kings of the gulf states. Hafiz sb should prove his claims to be practical by taking drastic measures by immediately cuting the luxuries of army officers and withdraw all the free of cost facilities and introduce austerity measures to adopt a simple life style. All the free of cost luxurious facilities ranging from free petrol, vehicles, housing and other utilities must be withdrawn from civil servents and political elites. Such reduction in unrealistic and unnecessory spendings will reduce the burden on government exhchequer and help provide relief to those who struggle to meet both ends.
Without robust atmosphere of rule of law and equality before the law and radical internal reforms including eradication of corruption and making ruling elites accountable to the people we cannot make long term sustainable progress solely by receiving financial assistance from friendly foreign countries and international financial institutions. The editorial has highlighted an important issue that without abandoning our outlandish kingly style of living by our state functionaries we cannot bring economic stability and sociopolitical cohesion in our country..