The Express Tribune Editorial 20 September 2019

Trade via Torkham

 

For the first time in the country’s history, a trading terminal has been set up along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan which will remain operable round the clock. The potential this first terminal has for lifting the trade and economy of the country is immense, particularly when coupled with the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Our leaders have always boasted of making Pakistan an Asian Tiger – borrowing a term from four other Asian economies which grew at high rates on the back of rapid industrialisation in the 1970s and 1980s – but have so far failed to exploit its true potential, for one reason or another.
Unlike the other Asian countries, Pakistan constantly finds itself in the throes of massive debt as well as an imbalance of payments which, in layman’s terms, means we are buying more from than we are selling. This is particularly evident from our trade with our immediate neighbours. Pakistan’s total worth of exports to its four bordering countries – including India, Afghanistan, Iran and China – is a mere $3.7 billion. This is a fraction of Pakistan’s total annual exports standing at something around Rs30 billion. Needless to say, that this is an underserved area which, if focused upon, can resolve the economic problems of the country to a large extent. In this context, opening up a cargo and trade terminal on our western border with Afghanistan — our second-largest regional trade partner — which is to remain open round the clock will immensely boost our trade potential.
Inaugurating the trade terminal the other day, PM Imran Khan expressed the hope that it would “increase the trade with Afghanistan by 50% to $3.5 billion annually.” Most importantly, it will help Pakistan grant access to the lucrative markets of Central Asia, and from there, to Europe. This trade corridor is also beneficial for the fast-developing CPEC and forms a critical land route for Beijing’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This is a welcome, albeit a grossly late, first step towards a brighter economic future of the country. We must now look to replicate it further at Torkham, at Chaman and even at the Zahedan and Khunjerab borders.

 
 

Another arrest

 

Senior PPP leader Khursheed Shah has been nabbed, and another politician from Sindh is possibly the next to go in NAB custody. Shah joins a long list of politicians facing graft allegation, including former president Asif Ali Zardari, former prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and former chief minister Shehbaz Sharif, besides Maryam Nawaz, Faryal Talpur, Agha Siraj Durrani, Hamza Shehbaz, Miftah Ismail and others. Shah, meanwhile, is accused by NAB of having benami properties in the names of his frontmen or servants and getting an amenity plot in a housing society. In July this year, the NAB chairman had approved nine inquiries against different personalities, including Shah. It then took some two months for the senior politician from Sukkur to be taken into custody during a raid on his Islamabad residence.
Shah’s arrest has raised the charge of political victimisation from the PPP leaders, including party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who accused the government of using NAB to “hide its own failures”. Bilawal also described the arrest as an attempt by the government to sabotage the unity among political parties over Kashmir and to divert attention from its “failure” over the matter. Bilawal may well be saying what he is supposed to say in such a situation. But there is little denying that if not all, most of those in NAB custody or under NAB investigation belong to the main opposition parties – the PML-N and the PPP. And this is what raises serious questions over the claims of an across-the-board accountability. The opposition-only list of those nabbed has even drawn concerns from the Chief Justice of Pakistan, who has recently warned against the growing perception about a “lopsided process of accountability” and called for urgent remedial measures to save it from losing credibility.

 
 

Rising food prices

 

Adviser on Finance to the PM Dr Hafeez Shaikh and Minister of Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed have taken notice of the rising prices of basic food items like wheat and wheat flour. At a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee of the cabinet on Sept 18 they contested the figures presented by the Ministry of National Food Security and Research about the prices of wheat flour. The railway minister said lately the prices of wheat flour had increased by Rs70-100 per 40kg. The adviser on finance said he had received reports that prices of basic food items were on the rise in the federal capital. The ECC has asked the provinces to do stocktaking of the wheat stock in the country to ascertain how much is available in government warehouses and how much has been “eaten by rodents.” Another minister quoted a Sindh minister as having said that “400,000 tons of wheat has been lost to rodents.” The level of wastage and its admission by a minister show that all is not well with the ministry entrusted with the task of ensuring food security. Dr Shaikh and Sheikh Rashid said the ban on export of wheat and wheat flour should stay. Wheat stock has depleted a little but the available stock was sufficient to meet the country’s needs. The Punjab government is selling wheat to flour mills at Rs1,375 per 40kg. Some flour mills are reportedly buying more than their grinding capacity, and are selling the extra wheat in the open market.
The adviser expressed annoyance that the government was giving subsidy on wheat and gas but the prices of roti (bread) have not been reduced. Tandoors are not being charged for gas at the current rate. Being a trained economist Dr Shaikh should know the importance of keeping food prices under control. Controlling prices, inflation and income is essential for economic management. However, currently the country is facing a double-digit inflation. Vulgar display of wealth and want go side by side as usual

About The CSS Point

The CSS Point is the Pakistan 1st Free Online platform for all CSS aspirants. We provide FREE Books, Notes and Current Affairs Magazines for all CSS Aspirants.

The CSS Point - The Best Place for All CSS Aspirants

March 2024
M T W T F S S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
top
Template Design © The CSS Point. All rights reserved.