A critical look at the 2010-11 budget

Madam you make some useful points. I applaud you for bringing the issue of wasteful spending into the light. We know about it but the figures when revealed are still very striking.

I will take one exception to your article. It is that the IMF made the budget for us or they “dictated” it to us. This is a rather tiresome, boring and wholly inaccurate claim.

I have sat through countless pre-budget discussions with the IMF as a representative of our Executive Director in the IMF in Washington spanning more years than I care to recall. I was priviledged to watch and listen to both sides.

Pakistan has been fortunate, and we still are, to have very competent negotiators in the economic field (including the State Bank). Some of those figures are now a legend. Some of them now are still very good. They know how to negotiate, they are knowledgeable, and they negotiate hard. Very hard indeed.

What you see in the budget is often if not always far from what the IMF wants. Trust me, Madam, I know. To give the impression that the Pakistani side just sits there dumstruck and in awe and listens to IMF “dictation” is a complete fiction. It makes for a nice headline. But that is about it.

The truth is that there is hard, stressful and sometimes hostile argument often way into the late evening, and then over dinner and into the next day and the next. There are compromises made and give-and-take. The IMF have their brief from Headquarters as what is minimally acceptable. We have ours too.

I would say that, in general, we end up somewhere in the middle. They win some battles; but so do we.

In conclusion Madam, this is not the IMF’s budget. It is ours. This is Pakistan’s budget. It is not perfect (no budget ever is) and there are some rough edges and less-than-optimal measures in it. I would have preferred deeper spending cuts (like you) as opposed to any new taxes even if our tax collection is embarrasing and indefensible and the root cause of our never-ending and ever-enduring fiscal woes.Recommend

Mr. Meekal Ahmed,

It’s great to hear from you about the Insight of these negotiations.

Sir, It seems you might be talking about the ”Old Good Days” but now things seem to be the exact Opposite of what you are saying. Continuous Increasing Inflation to price hike in utilities, Higher Interest Rates, Subsidies taken Off Plus VAT nothing shows that we are ‘working hard’ in negotiating for the poor of Pakistan.

It Indeed is a Budget By IMF.Recommend

As expected, this article is disappointing. I feel that the entire south Punjab has been marginalized as the rest of Pakistan minus Takht Lahore. 8,510 M development budget is being criticized but the writer wont write or utter a word about 27 billion Rupees Jati Umara Road. She should be ashamed of herself. Q. League is going into next elections with a slogan of Separate South Punjab Province. Are we missing something here? True, there should be a balanced distribution in development budget, but why this reason fails when we see major chunk of the development budget going to LAHORE, Faisalabad, Shekhupura, and Gujranwala. Lahore is my city, but so is DG Khan, Muzaffargarh, Rahimyar Khan, Bahawalpur, Queta, Peshawar, Badin, Thatha, Larkana, and all the under developed cities of this beloved country. The leaders of Q. League should look in to this matter, and think twice before getting this lady elected on reserve seats in the next elections. Her vision is shortening day by day as the volume of her articles. What a pity!Recommend

Dear Ms. Political Grand Standing Marvin Memon

‘The increase from last year’s Rs1.38 billion in taxes to this year’s Rs1.667 billion is going to be a burden on ordinary Pakistanis who pay their taxes as opposed to the elite.’

For starters it’s Trillion.

And secondly, the Elite and the Elite evil corporations fund the budget, funds your cushy lets negotiate over lassi’s Parliament. Logically, most Pakistani’s are Poor, so the poor pay no taxes. Fair enough. That leaves the Elite to pay Taxes that run the country.

Subsidies are popular Political Gambits, but they are inefficient. If you don’t pass on the costs today, you have to do it tomorrow. We can’t afford electricity subsidies, and guess what, it is the Elite who consume the most electricity that pay for those too.

How about focusing on the misspent billions vs. the documented millions. And how much did your party’s government spend btw?

Over sized budget requests…..like that never happens.

Good for Multan. I sure hope the next Prime Minister is from Karachi then.Recommend

where in the NFC award does it state that Sindh would get 55% of the divisible pool? Sindh was supposed to get 24.55%.

The issue of VAT is still being negotiated between Sindh and the centre and will be decided in October, so that will also impact Sindh’s final revenue share.

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/national/vat-levy-is-subject-to-pa-approval,-says-dr-kaiser-860Recommend