The python’s power
An IMF review mission has expressed displeasure over lack of momentum in imposing new taxes and reforming power sector
We always knew the accord reached with the IMF in 2008 was going to result in some tough policies. Just how harsh they would be is now becoming clear. An IMF review mission visiting Islamabad has expressed displeasure over the lack of forward momentum in imposing new taxes and in reforming the power sector. For the IMF, ‘reform’ essentially means the removal of subsidies and a 35 per cent hike in power tariffs on the cards by the end of the fiscal year. We can all envisage what lies ahead for citizens.
Conforming to political – and practical – necessity the government has decided that power will be raised in increments, at about two per cent a month. Like the unrelenting squeeze of a python that has trapped its prey, the torture is to be a slow one, as consumers feel the continuous pinch of inflation. The report of the power increase comes at a time when petrol prices have already soared and inflation of the costs of other items continue. It should be noted that over the last year, there has already been a hike of about 60 per cent in the cost of power. Many consumers turn pale as bills land at doorsteps, bringing with them monetary demands almost impossible to meet.
The government has, each time, portrayed itself as helpless — telling us that in the matter of power it has no choice but to go along with the IMF. This may be true. But there should also be some thought as to how citizens are to manage. Will they eat less? Remove children from school? Deny ailing family members healthcare? The choices for them are limited. The middle-class struggle most days to somehow make ends meet; the option of begging or even borrowing from relatives is not always available to them. The trap we have dug for ourselves is a deep one. The government could risk tumbling in itself, unless it can find a way to ease the pressure of the noose that tightens around people’s necks and could, in time, ensnare it as well.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 3rd, 2010.
Conforming to political – and practical – necessity the government has decided that power will be raised in increments, at about two per cent a month. Like the unrelenting squeeze of a python that has trapped its prey, the torture is to be a slow one, as consumers feel the continuous pinch of inflation. The report of the power increase comes at a time when petrol prices have already soared and inflation of the costs of other items continue. It should be noted that over the last year, there has already been a hike of about 60 per cent in the cost of power. Many consumers turn pale as bills land at doorsteps, bringing with them monetary demands almost impossible to meet.
The government has, each time, portrayed itself as helpless — telling us that in the matter of power it has no choice but to go along with the IMF. This may be true. But there should also be some thought as to how citizens are to manage. Will they eat less? Remove children from school? Deny ailing family members healthcare? The choices for them are limited. The middle-class struggle most days to somehow make ends meet; the option of begging or even borrowing from relatives is not always available to them. The trap we have dug for ourselves is a deep one. The government could risk tumbling in itself, unless it can find a way to ease the pressure of the noose that tightens around people’s necks and could, in time, ensnare it as well.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 3rd, 2010.