There is a profound, almost morbid irony in listening to government ministers and state bureaucrats label Pakistan’s federal budget as “pro-poor” and “growth oriented.” To call a document that squeezes the last drops of sweat and blood from the destitute while showering the ruling elite with concessions “public-friendly” is not just a political lie; it is an insult to human intelligence. It makes one want to mourn the absolute death of empathy and intellect in the corridors of power.
The reality of Pakistan’s economic framework is grim: it is a textbook system of state-sanctioned extortion where the poor are crushed to fund the lavish lifestyles of a parasitic ruling class.
The Poverty Line Illusion and Regressive Taxation
The state’s cruelty begins with its definitions. By setting absurdly low thresholds for poverty and income tax, the state plays a numbers game. In a country ravaged by hyperinflation, where the cost of basic food items, electricity, and fuel has skyrocketed, anyone earning even a meager, sub living wage is treated as a “wealthy taxpayer.” The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) treats a laborer or a low income salaried worker not as a citizen to be protected, but as a sponge to be wrung dry.
Through an aggressive web of indirect taxes imposed on everything from milk and medicine to mobile phone top ups the poorest citizens bear the heaviest tax burden. Meanwhile, the real “shahookars” (tycoons) the untaxed feudal landlords, the elite retail cartels, and the real estate mafia remain virtually untouched.
Subsidizing the Rich, Starving the Poor
While the common man is told to make “sacrifices” for the sake of the country and the IMF, the ruling elite enjoys unprecedented corporate welfare. According to repeated United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) National Human Development Reports, economic privileges, tax breaks, and subsidies granted to Pakistan’s elite including corporate giants, feudal lords, and the political class amount to an astronomical 8.7 billion (over PKR 2.4 trillion) annually.
How can a government look its starving population in the eye and justify a budget that slashes duties on business class airline tickets and luxury imports for the elite, while simultaneously raising taxes on baby formula and basic utilities? This is not fiscal management; it is economic apartheid.
The FBR: A White Elephant of Nepotism
At the heart of this predatory extraction is the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) a bloated, inefficient, and deeply corrupt “white elephant.” The FBR has consistently failed to expand the tax net to the wealthy. Instead, it relies on the easy targets: the salaried class and captive consumers. The institution has become a breeding ground for cronyism and institutional incompetence. Until this corrupt monolith is completely overhauled, dismantled, or stripped of its discretionary powers, and until a transparent, digital direct tax system is implemented, the wealthy will continue to evade taxes with state complicity.
The Debt Fuelled Carnival of a Jumbo Cabinet
The hypocrisy reaches its peak when looking at the size of the government. Pakistan is drowning in debt, perpetually standing at the doorstep of the IMF with a begging bowl. Yet, the ruling regime refuses to practice the austerity it preaches. We see a “jumbo cabinet” packed with ministers, advisers, and special assistants, each enjoying a fleet of luxury bulletproof SUVs, free protocol, free electricity, and foreign trips funded by taxpayers.
The government borrows billions of dollars from global lenders under the pretext of “stabilizing the economy” or “helping the poor.” In reality, these loans do nothing but sustain the foreign exchange reserves just long enough for the ruling junta to continue their lavish lifestyle and pay off past mismanagements. The public gets the debt and the inflation; the elite gets the dollars and the protocol.
The Way Forward: No More Blood from a Stone
The current economic trajectory is unsustainable and dangerously volatile. The state cannot continue to squeeze blood from a stone. If Pakistan is to survive as a stable society, the paradigm must be flipped on its head through aggressive, structural reforms:
1. Tax the Elites, Not the Essentials: Direct taxes must be levied on agricultural income, real estate flips, and luxury consumption. Indirect taxes on basic food, health, and education must be completely abolished.
2. Dismantle Elite Subsidies: The $8.7 billion structural handouts given to powerful lobbies must be permanently revoked and redirected toward targeted social safety nets and public education.
3. Slay the White Elephants: The FBR must be purged of institutional corruption. Executive corruption must be met with severe accountability.
4. Radical State Austerity: The size of the cabinet must be slashed by half. Free fuel, free electricity, and luxury vehicle privileges for all bureaucrats, judges, generals, and politicians must be banned immediately.
Until a truly citizen centric budget is drafted one that shackles the elite and shields the poor any claim of a “growth-oriented budget” is a farce. The rulers must realize that when you push the masses to the wall, you do not get tax revenue; you get a revolution. The circus of IMF funded luxury must end, and it must end now.
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