We don’t have the latest up to date correct figures of our population as census has not been conducted in the country for almost two decades now. Despite tall claims of successive governments in this country,the documentation of country’s economy is still a far cry. In these circumstances only a person living in a fool’s paradise would expect that a budget commensurate with the ground realities could be made. It is unfortunate that no serious attempt has been made by any government during the past thirty years or so to document the national economy which should be priority number one of every government. Moreover,no government in this country during this period has shown any political will and determination to bring under the tax net directly the elite of the country whose everything is on record. Doesn’t the FBR know who are the persons who own palatial bungalows and farm houses,who fly abroad in business or first class on pleasure or business trips so many times a year,who drive in posh cars,and whose children study in the costliest educational institutions inside the country or abroad?What precludes the finance minister from imposing direct taxes on them?There is a general perception, and it is quite weighty, that the present government is composed of business tycoons and, therefore, quite naturally it is business-friendly and it would never chalk out economic policies or take any step which goes against the economic interests of the big business.
It goes without saying that the government has not been able to recover the taxes according to the targets fixed by it in the last annual budget. It also could not contain expenditure under non-developmental head of account,
Too much hope cannot be pinned on the forthcoming annual budget which is round the corner. It is not going to be much different from the budgets we have seen during the past so many years. Let us keep our fingers crossed and wait for the day when a budget which is a people’s budget in the true sense of the word would be prepared. That day might not be far away given the groundswell of the people’s anger over the economic exploitation of teeming millions of the country by a handful of elite which wants to suck even the last drop of the have-nots from their body
POSTSCRIPT: Let us hope that the new cricket coach who is a foreigner would be able to deliver, unlike his predecessors, who failed to mould our cricket team into a winning combination. The forthcoming tour of England would be his first test. If our boys succeed and performed well on the turning English wicket under the cold weather conditions it would mean that the new coach has passed his initial test.
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