July 5, 2001
Under such circumstances, how does the government plan to have a balanced budget in the long run? Until and unless the economy invests in the desired infrastructure and human development, how can it prosper, let alone balancing out its budget?
The question is why after all do we really need to achieve this target against all odds. If the government is unable to cut down its defence expenditure in line with the revenue or its debt servicing liability, then it should simply fix a realistic budget deficit target that can be achieved. The development schemes must anyhow keep on functioning even if it contributes to the deficit. After all, we have been relying on deficit financing for quite a long time. The PSDP allocation for the federal programme is Rs. 75.2 billion, out of which the lion's share of 29.9 per cent is going to the ministry of water and power while the least to the health division, i. e. 3.3 per cent. Overall subsidies of Rs. 20 billion have been projected out of which approximately 50 per cent are meant for the KESC and WAPDA.
Now the performance of the water and power ministry is a known fact. WAPDA has been asking for almost 10 per cent annual increase in tariff. And at the same time, Gen. Zulfikar Ali Khan, chairman of WAPDA and the KESC, has admitted that the two years of army management of WAPDA has failed to check the massive power theft and other irregularities. Brig. Shahid Mukhtar., managing director of the KESC, has said that 60 per cent of the power used in posh areas of Karachi is stolen, while there has been no real count of the kundas used in the sprawling 'kutchi abadis' of Karachi. The continuing dispute over the water share amongst the provinces also provides an ample proof of the performance of the said ministry. This being their performance, one wonders what this further huge allocation is meant for?
The law and order situation prevalent in the society is not hidden from anyone. A handful of people with personal motives can bring Karachi's business activity to a grinding halt. Gen. Musharraf advises the people of Karachi to be brave enough and not to be blackmailed by these trouble-makers. But under the circumstances, his advice seems to be irrelevant. It is the prime responsibility of the state to provide security to its citizens especially its business community. In case of Karachi, the government has failed miserably in this regard. Let us hope that the government still meets its ambitious revenue targets. If it fails in this task we will be facing another drastic cut in the development expenditure.
Our nation is used to the SROs and mini-budgets and one never knows what promise would be revoked and when. The finance minister has promised that SROs will not be issued anymore. Let us keep our fingers crossed and our hopes high.
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