IS THERE any contingency plan, worked out by the ministry of finance to avoid harsh impact on the economy in case a much-sought-after bilateral and multilateral support package is not received in time for one reason or another.

Minister for Finance Shaukat Aziz when held his last news conference on November 6 said that the government has finalised a “contingency plan” to meet the growing financial difficulties in the absence of any financial support by US led coalition and other international financial institutions (IFIs). He had also conceded in that news conference that so far only pledges and commitments have been made and that nothing has actually come in the kitty.

Concerned officials in the ministry of finance have interestingly expressed their surprise over any contingency plan and said if at all there was any it must have been with the finance minister. However, they said that a study has been conducted by the ministry of finance’s economic advisor Dr. Ashfaque Hasan Khan and findings of this study had been given to President General Pervez Musharraf, which he would share with the US authorities so that some emergency assistance could be sought.

Dr. Ashfaque’s study reportedly visualises things greatly worsening if timely foreign financial assistance is not received, both from bilateral and multilateral resources.

The government is seeking market access for Pakistan’s textiles goods and initially some favourable response has been shown by the European Union in the shape of reducing 10 per cent tariffs that will help earn additional $400 million during the current financial year.

However, it is not comprehensible as to why access for rice and sea food items had not been sought. Generally, the US and the European Union disallow market access for rice and fisheries from Pakistan saying that they are not standardised and do not meet international specifications. The fact of the matter, on the contrary, is that the issue had been sorted out successfully during Nawaz Sharif’s second government. The then minister for food and agriculture Sattar Lalika had got various facilities improved at the Karachi port which were later appreciated and approved by some of the EU diplomats. Now when the government is seeking access for textiles, it should also go for surplus quantity of fine rice and fisheries.

Ever since September 11 events, the government is calling for having new concessional loans but it is not talking about December or early next year. The Hyatt Regency Hotel which was under construction at the time when late Zia ul Haq took over the reigns of the government.

There in no indication that 26 per cent shares of the United Bank could be offloaded along with transfer of management even in December 2001. The issue of offering 5 to 10 per cent shares of the National bank does not seem to be materialising in December as was earlier planned.

The privatisation of tricky KESC has already been delayed and there is no indication that this entity could be privatised by June 2002 despite the fact that the Asian Development Bank(ADB) had offered 150 million dollar for its restructuring.

Even today the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation continues to incur 40 per cent line theft losses and according to the minister for privatisation the loss of Rs50 million daily is being experienced by the utility.

So far over Rs70 billion have been obtained through the privatization of various state owned enterprises. Where has the money gone, today nobody talks about it.

However, in future, 90 per cent of privatization proceeds will have to be spent for debt retirement and the remaining 10 per cent for social sector.

Both the Pakistan Peoples Party and Pakistan Muslim League governments had been accused of consuming considerable privatisation proceeds for cutting down their budget deficits.

The minister for privatisation says that new privatisation law which is very much in place now, simply discourages misuse of privatisation proceeds.