Good of the government to work to- wards a likely reduction of Rs 5.50 per litre in petrol prices \u201cin the pub- lic interest\u201d. But what exactly is the public supposed to make of this deci- sion considering the recent repeated hikes? Surely it\u2019s not that the PM will never let petrol prices rise \u201cin the public interest\u201d; not when there\u2019s little to suggest that the rush in Brent crude will subside anytime soon or that the government has come up with a foolproof plan to stabilise prices. And if the burden will not be passed onto the people it will have to be endured by the government, which will pressure public finances and bloat the deficit, which will eventually have to be funded by the people, especially as long as the IMF program lasts. So what, eventually, is achieved by all this and in whose interest?
\nThere\u2019s also something to be said about a policy deci- sion, however temporary, that runs completely counter to IMF requirements just when a federal minister has claimed that had Pakistan not entered the programme, petrol would have long crossed Rs 1200 mark. More pertinent is the apparent willingness to bend over back- wards to accommodate lender\u2019s demands, even those that are not \u201cin the public interest\u201d by any stretch of the imagination. That begs the very obvious questions of who\u2019ll have egg on the face if the Fund comes up with further revocation of subsidies and Islamabad is forced to raise prices yet again?
\nMost likely the PM\u2019s reaction was helped, if not trig- gered, by an uproar over the recent rounds of upward revisions at a time when the public\u2019s wrath is ready to spill into the streets. But if it was done to avoid bad press at a very sensitive time, it was more to protect the inter- est of the government than the people. The least the government can do is ensure greater transparency in the handling of those aspects of the economy that have a direct impact on the common man. That way they will at least be spared the uncertainty that comes with the failure of the ruling party to keep its promises time and again. Right now, nobody expects the uncertainty to set- tle anytime soon.
\nThat the PM would want to intervene and protect the economy from sudden price shocks, re- gardless of whether for his own sake or somebody else\u2019s, is natural as well as appreciated. But since good inten- tions achieve little in terms of political mileage and hardly anything at all for people struggling to make ends meet, a far better way to handle this would be to tell it like it is, especially how much people would have to tighten their belts. Presenting a rosy picture does not mean that they wouldn\u2019t have to do it anyway. But this way there will be no more false hope and promises.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Good of the government to work to- wards a likely reduction of Rs 5.50 per litre in petrol prices \u201cin the pub- lic interest\u201d. But what exactly is the public supposed to make of this deci- sion considering the recent repeated hikes? Surely it\u2019s not that the PM will never let petrol prices rise \u201cin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-422701","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-editorial"},"yoast_head":"\n