First-up: economy

This refers to the letter ‘Unenviable task’ (December 16, 2023) by Umama Zuhra. After the Supreme Court’ decision to quash the orders of the LHC, it appears the next general elections will not be delayed any further. The newly elected parliament and government will certainly have their work cut out for them with a huge range of serious problems confronting the nation. The economic situation, as argued in the letter, is one of, if not the, paramount concern. Our economic woes must be addressed openly before parliament and there should be extensive, clear, and frank discussions and debates about how to resolve them. Then, we should formulate a reasonable national economic plan.

All the economic and fiscal decisions made by this present caretaker government must also be carefully scrutinized by parliament in order to decide whether the new government should ditch, continue with or modify these policies. As part of this process of debates, reviews, and evaluations, the new parliament and government will have to have a serious look at government spending and make substantial cuts to non-development expenditures. We cannot afford to shy away from our economic problems any longer.

Iftikhar Malik

Taxila