What is the profile of Pakistan that comes through in the Federal Budget 2009-2010? And what will be the image of the provinces in the provincial budgets for the same financial year? Without any doubt, the inadequacy of resources to run the country and the complex war against militants are two of the aspects that will become very obvious.
Pakistan's overall context is grim and grave and so there was no point in expecting anything cheerful and sunny to have emerged for the common man. No relief in the larger sense of the word, to quote Dr Zafar Altaf (from a TV panel discussion) one does wonder about what he described as the Gross Domestic Happiness (GDH). Is happiness likely to be a by-product of the new budge?
He had philosophised that while there is so much attention being paid to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) what is the GDH that is being given to the masses? Indeed, the common man's perception of the new budget is gray and bleak and he expects his life to get tougher still.
Which reminds me of the housewife and budgets, which used to be major themes in the past each time the Finance Minister announced the details. I don't think that has happened this time so far. Perhaps, the housewife's views are irrelevant for the larger picture is so worrying that housewives cannot be provided for.
The country needs so much money on so many fronts that our foreign qualified planners and seasoned bureaucrats assume that the people of Pakistan will understand. I do not know to what extent the people of Pakistan understand that there is a growing inadequacy of resources in the country.
But one feels that the people do realise what has been aptly stated in this news report which said that "the PPP government on Saturday took a huge double gamble of presenting a Rs 2.9 trillion budget without knowing whether the resources pledged by foreign donors would be available, and without taking any major initiative to expand the tax base, bridge the rich-poor gap, or provide visible relief to the poor."
While Hina Rabbani Khar, who presented the budget said that it had "growth with a human face", the Prime Minister's advisor on finance and revenue Shaukat Tarin has said that the government has asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $4 billion standby loan for financing a yawning resource gap of 4.9 percent in the next financial year. He said that funds from the friendly multilateral donors or countries can either get delayed or not arrive.
I am sure that the citizens would like to understand why these funds get delayed or not arrive at all. Is this a reflection of the state of the world economy or of the overall profile of this country? I hope that this is not a reflection on the country that pledged resources by friendly countries would not arrive. I do not believe that Pakistan is isolated in any way, remarked a citizen as we discussed this aspect of the budget.
He also felt that the budget had not been hailed even as a matter of formality! For all the pre- and post-budget debate and dialogue that has been going on about the federal and provincial budgets one wonders whether the common man is as preoccupied with this annual theme - as anticipated.
There is a feeling that the budget has once again brought more financial fears and heightened economic insecurity in the lives of the ordinary people. Every day themes like the forthcoming rise in the prices of food stuffs, the power tariffs, the price of fuel and petroleum products, and other taxes and duties will all contribute towards making domestic budgets smaller still, and make compulsory the tightening of the belt.
Which makes it once again a point to wonder why agriculture has been exempted from tax, and an obvious belief is that the government was unable to escape the lobbying by the vested interests in this vital sector. Perhaps the socio political context is not yet opportune - not yet ready for this tax.
It is time for the parliamentarians to announce details of the taxes they pay and also declare their assets. Shaukat Tarin has urged them to make public the above details as it would "persuade people to pay taxes for progress and development."
He said that he would be making public his tax details, even though he was not an elected person. Of course this implies that a culture of paying taxes in this society is still a long way off. Should not examples be set from the top? The Finance Advisor, while referring to the elected representatives of the people, said that "no doubt, besides assets, they should also show people the details of the taxes they pay to the national kitty to advise the non-payers."
I would like to end with what Shaukat Tarin has advised Pakistani people on how to meet the challenge of rising prices of POL products and CNG with the imposition of carbon tax. He referred to the American people who use public transport to cut down on their fuel costs.
So the Pakistanis should also use public transport, he suggested. I don't think he knows about the state of our public transport. I have never been able to understand why Pakistan is compared to America or Europe or Japan or other industrially developed, educated, and financially strong societies.
What is the relevance? Is there any sense in this comparison? Today Pakistan is at war, fighting for its survival, and which country in the world do we resemble? The Americans are bracketing Afghanistan alongside Pakistan, in many ways, and what does that indicate? Once again, signs of changing times. Of course, the budgets have had me thinking about the country in so many worrying ways.
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