Social Inequality as a Consequence of Economic Policy: Dawn

Islamabad – Speaking to German broadcasters on the sidelines of last week’s Munich Security Conference, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva set the agenda for good fiscal governance in Pakistan. bottom.

“What we want is for Pakistan to take the necessary steps to enable it to function as a country and not be in a dangerous place where it needs to restructure its debt,” she said. Told.

Her advice is to tax those who earn well in both the public and private sectors and subsidize only the poor who really need it. It comes at a time when it is struggling to finalize a deal with an international lender to restore its lending program amid fears of default and the differences between the two are far from resolved. is shown.

Her talk also made it clear that the IMF is not satisfied with the consumption tax hike and wants the government to raise income taxes on the wealthy.

But whether the IMF is only asking for higher income tax rates for existing taxpayers, or is it pulling in all those who have avoided paying taxes, or who have undertaxable income from real estate and retail, and narrowing the scope? It is not yet known if they are pressing to expand. , agriculture, etc.

Hopefully this should become clear in the next few days.

More importantly, Prime Minister Shebaz Sharif’s politically embittered government has ventured to risk the wrath of his party’s core members from the retail and real estate sectors, and the powerful factory owners. The focus is on whether we are ready to withdraw the enormous energy and tax subsidies given to the .

So far, the government has shown virtually no signs of embarking on this “difficult” route. This is because they fear the election implications of harassing the vote bank.

Rather, the rulers are trying to meet the IMF’s income requirements by tightening indirect taxes, but enough to make the move even more dire for low-income households already battling the effects of soaring inflation. I am aware of

It has the second largest number of out-of-school children in the world, nearly 10 million young people suffer from stunting due to chronic malnutrition and undernutrition, and 70% of households There is no choice but to drink water infested with germs.

The ongoing economic crisis is widening economic and gender inequality. A key objective of good tax policy is to close these gaps and reduce economic inequality by taxing the wealthy directly.

Sadly, our tax system is only meant to make the rich richer, and it is they who directly or indirectly control politics. Without a just socio-economic order, the challenges will only multiply.Dawn/Asia News Network

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