Islamabad.When Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif started his address to the nation on Monday, the people suffering from financial crisis were expecting relief, but on the contrary, the government issued a new order of disaster. Using the ongoing Iran-Israel war in West Asia as a shield, the Government of Pakistan has implemented very strict and repressive economic measures in the country. The salaries of ministers have been completely stopped and the salaries of MPs have been cut drastically by 50 percent. Not only this, the petrol and diesel quota given to government officials has been abolished and schools and colleges have been shifted to work from home i.e. online mode.
These steps may seem like an exercise to save fuel, but in reality it is a secret way to get the next installment from the International Monetary Fund. Pakistan’s economy has been on ventilator for a long time and the conditions set by the IMF for giving funds were no less than a noose. These conditions entailed drastic reduction in government expenditure, elimination of subsidies and reduction of fiscal deficit. The governments of Shehbaz Sharif and General Asim Munir were afraid to impose these conditions directly because of the risk of public revolt. Now these tough decisions are being presented in the name of war and global crisis, wrapped in the cloak of national security. The government has cut the expenses of government departments by 20 percent and imposed a complete ban on the purchase of new vehicles, furniture and ACs. Offices have been reduced to only four days a week and 50 percent of employees have been instructed to work from home. Experts believe that the cut in the salaries of ministers and MPs is just a show to calm the anger of the general public. The real blow has fallen on the middle class for whom electricity and fuel have now become luxuries. Reducing the fleet of government vehicles by 60 percent and cutting the salaries of top officials are part of the primary conditions of the IMF which it has repeatedly pointed fingers at. Pakistan has cleverly used this global tension to hide its economic failure. The reality is that in order to save the country from default, the Shahbaz government has pushed the country into a lantern era, where the economic wheels have stopped and the future looks bleak.
