My knowledge of economics, as well as of the of the intricacies and delicacies of the world of figures in which budgets are made (or authored?), is so feeble and so shallow that it can easily be dismissed as non-existent. But there happens to exist some truths that do not require any indepth knowledge of the subject of economics and the frequently used terminology that is an integral part of it (Like GDP, deficit, surplus, inflation and recession etc).
These truths have not failed to carve their way into my consciousness despite my mind’s inbuilt barricades against the puzzles and riddles that the economic terms and figures are frequently accompanied with. One of such truths relates to affluence we see in some homes and staggering deprivation that characterizes the vast habitats where over 140 million of our ill-fated have-nots are trying to learn the art of surviving in the absence of pollution-free environment, of safe drinking water, of bare minimum nutrients and healthcare, and of real and tangible hope of a better tomorrow. Will the figure-work accompanying the most recent of the well-trumpeted people’s budgets, narrow down the gap between the homes that have porches which are jam-packed and huts that never fail to give the impression of being “well-looked-after breeding places of destitution, disease and death”?
Another such truth is the mounting gap between our ‘Export Income’ and our ‘Import Bill’. The gap (known as trade deficit) is increasing so alarmingly that it may not be long before our ‘Chief Executives’ are required to find convincing explanations of ‘the doubling of our foreign debt’ (when the present government took over, the debt was known to be around $32 billion, and after vehemently carried out propaganda of ‘liberation form the yoke of despotic lenders, the debt burden has gone up to $38 billion!).
Had the trade deficit been due to the import of ‘the components of productivity, there would have been no cause for alarm. But we have been importing with zealous generosity the tools of high living and improved quality of life’ (for those who have money to buy even ‘tomorrow’). In this context I’ve an eye-opening observation to make. We seem to be overjoyed at having reserves in excess of $13 billion. Algeria, not known for its development, and population far far less than ours, has $90 billion in reserves.
There has been a great deal of talk about the affluence we are experiencing.(in our stock exchange, our drawing rooms, our porches).But this is strictly the ‘elite affluence’. Affluence of the lucky and the chosen few. This is not mass affluence. For me, the measure of real affluence would be the ability of the low-income groups to send their kids to as good schools as those where the kids of the ‘stinking rich’ learn how to behave like their parents.
The budget in the context of which I an penning down these ‘layman’ observations may very well be the very best that can be authored by those (and for those) who have to console the rest by assuring: “IT WILL HAVE A TRICKLE-DOWN EFFECT’. But for me it is yet another determined effort to consolidate the power of the status quo and its beneficiaries.
26-12-2013
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