This is apropos a Business Recorder editorial “Hot desert’s coal left out in the cold” carried by the newspaper yesterday. The newspaper has concluded its argument by saying that ‘’no government step has so far prevented the law of unintended consequences lurching into action”.

This statement is quite true, given the fact that every unintended consequence is only adding to the country’s economic woes.

That the government has only contributed to the economic mess in the country in a dangerous manner is a fact that has found its best expression from the current discussions or debates on state of economy amid loud noises of a looming sovereign default.

The prime minister has been reported as saying that all external payments have been made on time and there was no threat of default now.

The prime minister or finance minister, however, has no plausible answer to the question what does the ongoing economic slide that is characterized by exorbitant interest rates, massive unemployment, unbearable inflation, and natural gas shortages actually represent? Although the government claims that it has successfully helped the country avert sovereign default, its ministers conveniently ignore the question whether or not the country’s economy is on the edge of collapse.

The government has adopted “Ostrich Policy”. It is therefore consistently displaying a tendency to ignore obvious challenges or matters and pretend they do not exist. In other words, it has refused to face the reality or recognise the truth. So, the question is: what’s in store? Your guess is as good as mine.

Tehmina Khan (Islamabad)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023