APROPOS the article ‘Tyranny of power asymmetry’ (June 29). The writer — very rightly — concludes that Pakistan has learnt to rely on itself for its defence needs but has yet to learn about financial self-reliance, which is only possible through bold fiscal reform.

The prosperity of the country, the welfare of its people and in fact, its very independence, are hinged upon financial self-reliance. The key question is who will take these bold steps?

First of all, it may not be in the interest of the bureaucracy to change the status quo. This would entail cutting down development and non-development funds. Over the years, we have become accustomed to an indiscriminate use of foreign funds for financing different programmes and projects. If we discard other benefits, the flow of funds creates privilege, rapport and a sense of achievement for government officials. Under these circumstances, who cares about the piling-up effect of loans? All this exacerbates the financial woes thereby creating occasional requirements for budgetary support loans from the IMF or friendly countries.

At the same time, these bold steps can prove to be politically detrimental. A government that is elected for five years has to show its development performance to the electorate. So, a government that applies financial prudence may not be a popular government. Neither the opposition nor the general public will let the government take that path.

Keeping the above constraints in purview, what is the solution? In my humble opinion, self-reliance is a long-term process and cannot possibly be achieved by any government in its five-year term. However long a process may be, there is always a first step and the setting of a direction.

The first step involves a strong commitment from the top leadership by making self-reliance policy and a long-term plan say a 20-year plan. The policy and plan formulation could possibly be spearheaded by an independent and innovative Pakistani professional. Concurrently, this process would require consensus-building among the political forces to make it sustainable. Are we as a nation willing to tread this path?

Ijaz Ahmed
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, July 8th, 2020