Recently, the country’s policy apparatus has behaved in a manner similar to that of a lazy ass who idly lays down in the middle of a busy roadway and then refuses to move. It won’t be deterred by cries of protest or arguments, even if you brandish a stick or shout at it. At least, that’s the image that pops into one’s brain when attempting to understand why the government has resisted letting go of some obviously poor policy choices that appear to have caused significantly more harm than good. The public’s tolerance is increasingly wearing thin.
The State Bank governor recently experienced the fury of the people when he was criticised for aiding our finance minister’s focus on currency rates. When Jameel Ahmad went to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry last Wednesday, he should have anticipated outrage. His agency has drawn the ire of innumerable firms and industries that largely rely on imports to operate because it has rigorous limitations on who can be awarded letters of credit and for what items. Even if he had anticipated difficulty, he could not have anticipated some of the more colourful protests that were directed at him.
The State Bank governor recently experienced the fury of the people when he was criticised for aiding our finance minister’s focus on currency rates.When Jameel Ahmad went to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry last Wednesday, he should have anticipated outrage. His agency has drawn the ire of innumerable firms and industries that largely rely on imports to operate because it has rigorous limitations on who can be awarded letters of credit and for what items. Even if he had anticipated difficulty, he could not have anticipated some of the more colourful protests that were directed at him.
The businesses in attendance came prepared with creative methods to humiliate the State Bank chief because they were frustrated by the government’s decision to restrict imports rather than encourage exports or attract additional remittance cash in the absence of an IMF bailout.
Only by promising that things would get better the following week when “dollar inflows” would increase the central bank’s foreign exchange reserves was the unfortunate man able to save face. We hope he locates the cash we so much require for the good of the nation. However, it is unlikely that any of those anticipated inflows will be enough to make up for the nation’s problems.
The current finance minister has made statements that are very similar to those of the central bank governor on a number of occasions, only to have the “friendly countries” on which he had pinned his hopes publicly announce that they were no longer interested in providing Islamabad with additional easy credit.
If the administration wishes to have any serious chance of preventing default, it must go back to the IMF, hat in hand, and agree to implementing all it was requested to do four months prior. The nation, which has paid dearly for that lost time, can only watch in astonishment as the government finally decides to take the action that everyone, with the exception of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, has known to be necessary for some time.No surprise individuals who expressed their disgust at the KCCI meet and greet were so vengeful.
