This is apropos a Business Recorder editorial "The sugar price continues to rise" carried by the newspaper yesterday. According to it, "the Khan administration has shown a lackadaisical approach towards monitoring prices, an activity that was undertaken on a weekly basis during previous administrations both at the federal and the provincial levels and which allowed the government of the day to assess a possible shortfall of any commodity in a timely manner and to take appropriate measures. In some stances a subsidy was extended to the Utility Stores Corporation while in others the supply was raised through imports and/or through setting a minimum support price. This careful and regular monitoring has been lacking during the past two and a quarter years."

The newspaper, in my view, has hit the nail on the head. The government seems to have lost the plot. The cabinet members, including the Adviser to PM on Finance and Revenue Dr Hafeez Sheikh, appear to have no ability to understand or cope with what is happening.

Basharat Raja (Islamabad)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020