Political instability to result in increased debt burden

Lahore: The Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) on Sunday said continued political instability has compromised government’s ability to generate revenues which will result in increased debt burden and inflation.

Generally governments rely on taxes, exports, debt and printing currency to meet their expenses but Pakistan has last two options as there is no desire to broaden tax base or trigger exports, said Dr. Murtaza Mughal, President PEW.

He said that economy has never responded positively to uncertainty hence insufficient tax income will force government to borrow more from different sources increasing debt burden which has already crossed over 60 per cent of the GDP.

Alternatively, government can opt to print currency eroding exchange rate and triggering inflation, he added.

Dr. Murtaza Mughal said that despite austerity claims, the government’s expenditure continue to rise but tax collection, the primary source of income, continue to dip resulting in persistent budget limitations.

The highly flawed tax system in Pakistan has helped rich to get richer on the cost of poor paving way to mass unrest, social problems and misbalanced budgets.

Dr. Murtaza Mughal said that distorted distribution of wealth has reached to new heights due to policy of unjustified exemptions heavy reliance on indirect taxes which are bleeding the poor white.

Government continue to provide incentives and exemptions to business community, especially manufacturers which augment their profits while ignoring the middle class and poor on whom burden in increasing by the passage of every day, he noted.

The government can borrow more, print currency or opt for a fair, rationalized, unprejudiced tax system to make Pakistan an economically viable country.