It is true that a picture is always worth a thousand words. What is also true is that sometime multiple ideas, issues and even contradictions can be effectively conveyed by a single still photograph. A photograph carried by newspapers yesterday is one such single image that conveys a message more effectively than a verbal speech or hundreds of written words can. Datelined New York City, the caption of this AFP photograph says: “Migrants sleep on the sidewalk for their turn to be housed in Roosevelt Hotel, on Tuesday.

The building, previously a property of Pakistan International Airlines, has been turned into a migrant reception centre after the Pakistan government leased it out to the New York City administration for three years against $220m.” Leasing out one of the assets of a white elephant state-owned enterprise (SOE), PIA, is a praiseworthy step. That the country needs more such steps in coming months and years is the need of hour. The country’s beleaguered economy cannot be turned around without an effective and meaningful response to the challenge of ailing SOEs.

For a long time, the situation or our economic plight has been underscoring the need for selling off family or state silver because most of our SOEs are a big failure. Unfortunately, however, no government took this ‘unpopular’ step largely owing to political exigencies. The incumbent government, which is functioning under the oversight of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) because of a life line (Stand-By Arrangement) the latter extended to the former a month ago, has taken some bold decisions, albeit reluctantly, that could ultimately undermine its overall electoral prospects. In principle, fixing the economy should have been the principal objective or goal of every government in power. But it doesn’t happen because re-election concerns compel every incumbent government to select policies that are popular among the electorate but are actually inferior to less popular alternatives.

Sultan Ranjha

Lahore

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023