Fuelling inflation

The countrymen have been literally left stunned as the government has pushed the price of petrol to Rs458 per litre and that of high-speed diesel to Rs520 - the highest levels in Pakistan's history. Petrol has risen by 63% in four weeks and diesel by 75%. Part of the cause lies beyond Islamabad's reach as the US-Israeli strikes on Iran have led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and sent global crude to record highs. For weeks, the government told people that there was nothing to fear, as it has secured oil stocks enough till April 15. The prime minister had personally assured the nation that supply lines were secure. Then, with no warning and no explanation why was such a sudden and steep rise was made even though the war fallout could have been controlled if austerity had been adopted in letter and spirit! It goes without saying that 'austerity' is a mere slogan. Evidence is not difficult to find. Ministers continue to travel with full security escorts as though the fuel crisis applied to everyone but them. New cars continue to be purchased for top federal officials with reckless abandon. These are not the gestures of a leadership that believes its own rhetoric. The government also had access to Rs390 billion in contingency reserves set aside last June for precisely such unforeseen shocks. Those funds were not touched. The government raided the development budget instead, failed to meet its tax targets and returned from IMF negotiations with one of the weakest staff-level agreements Pakistan has signed. If reserves were stable and the situation was under control, there was every opportunity to cut the cost of government and divert those savings downward. The contradiction is now irreconcilable. A government that claimed normalcy had no excuse to preserve every instrument of official privilege intact. If Islamabad is serious about cushioning what is coming, it must provide relief. Austerity that spares the powerful while fuel inflation cascades through the lives of ordinary Pakistanis is not a policy.