This is apropos a Business Recorder op-ed "Pandemic's second wave and oil markets" carried by the newspaper yesterday, the writer, Dr. Omer Javed, has presented a highly informed perspective on a subject that of course is of very high import for country's policymakers in particular. The writer, for example, has argued, among other things, that "The government in Pakistan should learn from its lack of proper hedging planning in the oil sector during the first wave, where together with the reportedly 'collusive games' of domestic oil suppliers, artificially impeding supply in turn, proactive and more efficient planning should be adopted."

That the oil and its products constitute the mainstay of country's overall imports is a fact. Here I wish to highlight the point that the country is already spending a lot of foreign exchange on the import of two essential commodities-wheat and sugar. The situation therefore demands a highly prudent and informed approach to oil particular in view of fast-depleting country's foreign exchange. Our policymakers must also not lose sight of the fact that the second wave of Covid-19 does not necessarily augur well for the prospects of country's exports and remittances-two principal sources of foreign exchange.

Mehtab Channa (Karachi)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020