Uzair bin Farid

The Pakistan government’s announcement about providing free-of-cost wheat flour for the poor during the holy month of Ramazan may not be an ideal option given the already weak outlook of the country’s agricultural economy, says an expert. According to Ijaz Ali, Research Economist at the Centre for Business and Economic Research (CERP), Karachi, the free-of-cost flour to the poor in Punjab, which is the largest province of Pakistan in terms of population, will burden the government with more liabilities.

“Successive governments had neglected the agricultural sector, due to which we are forced to import wheat instead of having our own indigenous supply of this essential food commodity,” he said. Ijaz said that subsidising wheat may turn out to be a thin solution to the problem of food security. “Although it may be needed in the short-term to maintain economic stability, in the long run, it is only going to burden the coffers of government as our government has consistently fallen short of raising essential revenues to finance its expenditures,” he emphasised.

“Our governments generally try to alleviate the sufferings of people through initiating short-term steps which hurt the economy in the long run,” he added.“Our governments and policymakers need to realise that we can successfully become an agriculture exporting country, and the way to that does not go from subsidising agriculture,” he added.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk