Why is children's stationery being treated as a luxury item?

Despite positive media coverage of Pakistan's diplomatic role in responding to the Middle East crisis, the country's economic challenges remain unresolved. Government officials argue that macroeconomic indicators have improved and that the economy is stabilising. Yet, for many Pakistanis, the reality continues to be defined by rising living costs, stagnant incomes and limited employment opportunities.

The tension between fiscal stabilisation and public welfare is becoming increasingly visible. To reduce the fiscal deficit and maintain access to international financing, Pakistan has committed to higher energy tariffs, new revenue measures and stricter fiscal discipline.

While these measures, however shoddily implemented, may improve some headline economic indicators, the burden of adjustment will continue falling on salaried workers, documented businesses, ordinary households, and the marginalised masses. Meanwhile, politically influential actors with substantial economic power, with investments in agriculture, retail and real estate, continue to remain outside the tax net, or else, they pay far less than they need to.

As a result, ordinary families are being forced to cut discretionary spending, and reduce consumption, to cope with higher utility bills and food prices. Simultaneously, rising debt servicing obligations and other expenditure pressures have narrowed the fiscal space available for investments in education, health, sanitation and emergent challenges such as climate change.

The federal education budget also remains dismally below 1 per cent of GDP, which is far short of the UN recommended minimum of 4 per cent. Although provincial education allocations have increased in nominal terms, the scale of these increases remains insufficient relative to Pakistan's large education deficit.

Now the government has introduced taxation measures that increase the cost of basic educational necessities. Last year, federal tax exemptions were withdrawn on a range of school supplies, including pencils, colour pencils, geometry boxes, sharpeners, exercise books and related items, subjecting them to a 10 per cent sales tax. Proposals this year to raise that rate further to 18 per cent prompted widespread concern over the additional burden on families already facing rising inflation. Although the proposed increase was then withdrawn, the existing 10 per cent tax on these essential supplies remains in place. This approach reflects a disconnect between Pakistan's stated commitments and policy actions.

The country already faces one of the world's largest education crises, with more than 25 million children out of school. Making essential learning materials more expensive risks creating another barrier to education, particularly for lower income households.

This regressive approach also runs counter to decades of evidence showing how investment in human capital is among the strongest drivers of economic growth. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank also acknowledge the importance of protecting social spending during fiscal adjustment programmes. Yet, in practice, the immediate demands of trying to balance the budget to continue meeting debt obligations takes precedence over longer-term investments in human development.

Raising revenue from educational supplies may provide limited short-term gains, but the long-term costs are far greater. When families are already struggling to make ends meet, making basic learning materials costlier will lead to lower school participation and further weaken learning outcomes.

Economic stabilisation is necessary. But stabilisation that makes education more expensive while failing to adequately invest in human development risks undermining the growth Pakistan needs. The real question is not whether the nation can afford to exempt children's school supplies from taxation; it is whether our decision-makers can continue ignoring the long-term economic consequences of making quality education even less accessible.