Hollow promises

Governments exaggerate their achievements and promises – it’s their job, and the PML-N government, is no different

Governments tend to exaggerate their achievements and promises – it’s their job, and the PML-N government, it seems, is no different. Its announcement of a Rs341 billion Kisan package appears to be another one of those exaggerated promises made to the farming community, which was aimed at creating the impression that the government was serious about reforming the agriculture sector. It was announced before the local government elections last year and was basically a political move. However, it’s fallen flat on its face. According to a recent report, the finance minister admitted to the IMF that the Kisan package would not exceed 0.1 per cent of the GDP and hence, would not affect the deficit target of 4.3 per cent. The 0.1 per cent amounts to around Rs30 billion – and not the Rs341 billion that had been announced -- if one estimates the total size of the Pakistani economy to be $300 billion. Unlike promises made to the public, promises to the IMF are usually honoured, given that billions of dollars are conditioned on Pakistan meeting targets.

Here the government has clearly tried to prey on the gullibility of the Pakistani people. The Kisan package was meant to support farmers and had a seven-month window to show results. It failed and the sector contracted during the outgoing fiscal year. Farmers cannot be helped by cash subsidies or low prices of urea alone. The sector has to be formalised and farming methods upgraded to match the standards of advanced countries. This may depress commodity prices in the short term, causing earnings to slide, but over the long run, the sector would be able to transition to better techniques and an ability to absorb natural calamities. However, instead of taking this difficult but much-needed road, the government preferred to make hollow promises. Obviously, when someone makes loud proclamations about a Rs341 billion package, it sounds much better than saying that the agriculture sector would be formalised, regulated and taxed. Which one would get more votes? No prizes for guessing.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 24^th, 2016.

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