Smoke and mirrors as ever

There are times when the ruling PML-N really does do itself no favours. It has in the recent past made much of the ‘fact’ that the party was committed to self-reliance and a reduction in dependence on foreign assistance. ‘Yes’ and ‘no’ would appear to be the appropriate response to this claim, and the figures tend to speak for themselves even if they do take considerable deconstruction to get close to the kernel of a deeper truth. Punjab is seeking Rs115 billion under the budget line of foreign project assistance (FPA) in the FY 2016-17 in order to run an assortment of mega projects including the Orange Line Metro Project, which is the cause of considerable anger to those who see culture and heritage threatened to say nothing of those who have lost their homes as it advances.

This is an unprecedented rise of 70 per cent when compared to the previous fiscal year. Examination of the budget reveals that the Punjab government, far from being ‘self-reliant’ is heavily dependent on foreign finance to underwrite projects such as the Orange Line — which may not come into profit for 20 years or more. To the surprise of nobody, Punjab far outstrips the other provinces when it comes to FPA allocations. Balochistan is in its traditional position of bottom of the list, seeking Rs4 billion, Sindh Rs12 billion and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Rs36 billion — a grand total of Rs52 billion collectively and not far off the FPA that Punjab seeks for itself alone. The allocation is defended by Punjab on the grounds that K-P is barely half the size of Punjab in economic and developmental terms, and that is a defensible position but it does nothing to dampen the sense of resentment felt in other provinces that everything revolves around Punjab, its needs and wishes are paramount and must be fulfilled at all costs. That feeling is exacerbated for K-P by the federal government withholding substantial development funding by pleading poverty. Technically the Punjab budget is not ‘wrong’ — but it is wrong to claim one thing whilst doing another. A little more transparency could result in a little less angst.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 29^th, 2016.

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