As the vaccination drive continues, the infection-positivity rate for Covid-19 cases seems to be dropping and the lockdown restrictions ease, people wonder about returning to anything resembling normalcy. But the unreliability of the official infection and mortality rates, and doubts as to the safety and efficacy of the vaccine, contribute to an anxiety around reopening. In the early days of the pandemic, many nations had to weigh the human cost of the disease against the poverty and suffering that would inevitably emerge from economic shutdowns. Pakistan seems to have suffered on both counts.

As global economy slowly awakens from a forced shut-down, it is encouraging to see that the new Punjab finance minister seems to be shifting the focus to reviving the economy from fiscal consolidation. Barely any relief has been provided by the government, which campaigned upon the populist promise of a welfare state, to those who have been hardest hit by the pandemic, including daily-wage earners and front-line healthcare workers. A more growth-based approach that prioritises the creation of jobs, and getting struggling families and small businesses back on their feet, would practically improve the lives of the people — some struggling to work through the pandemic and others hoping to get back to it.