BY: SYEDA HADIA RUBAB
According to the realism theory, the state is the supreme authority of the individuals, the institutions come later. The state is like a human body when it is tended with care and respect and is considered holy it survives but once you stop taking care it tends to collapse and demolish into ting pieces. This is exactly what is going on with the beloved state that Jinnah made with hard work and persistence for years upon years. The state is falling apart and the sole reason is the economic crisis. Pakistan is facing one of the worst economic crises that it has seen in decades. The depreciation of the currency, the fall in exports, the fall in demand and supply, the flawed taxation system, and the increased fuel and petroleum prices resulted in the state to takes its weak last breaths. The biggest reason for such an economic crisis is the depreciation of the currency. In June the rupee fell to 221 against the US dollar. Pakistan is in debt of a total of 6.4 billion which is due to be paid in the next 3 years. The Pakistani rupee has fallen to 16.5% against the US dollar and is considered to be the worst-performing currency of 2022. The increased debt caused price hikes and increased taxes. The budget that was presented by Sharif’s government will spend 58% on defense and repayment of the debt. The next year to survive Pakistan would need 41 billion dollars to keep the country running but the problem is how will this kind of money pave its way to the state whose exports are low, the currency is depreciating day by day, taxation is flawed, no foreign investment is coming in, the economy is at the brink of collapse. The tax policy of the state is fundamentally flawed as it is not based on policies and instruments. Serious reforms need to happen to cope with the turbulent economy. Now let me shed some like on this kind of economic crisis. Political instability is the most important reason for a crisis in any state. Whether it be Sudan, the middle east, or Sri Lanka. A state where there is dirty political nagging, instability in the parliament, stiff and self-centered political agendas, and unrest in the capital sparks an economic crisis. Pakistani politics has been nothing but a joke since the founder died the very next year. The state from then was led by insensitive, thieves, vicious self-centered, brainless individuals who had no idea how to run a state. All that a government does is blame the previous government for poor policy-making and horrible governance. The cause of this very economic collapse would be blamed solely on the unrest in the state due to political instability. Since the vote of no confidence that was passed for Imran’s government that man has set the country in utter chaos. Every single day there was a protest or a rally led by the PTI supporters causing unrest and coming in the way of the daily activities of civilians. The government also had to protect the state causing civilian and police fights. The PTI leader made sure to not sit back he made sure to record a protest that led for about a month and a half that seriously damaged the everyday economy. The high commodity price or inflation also added fuel to the fire. This resulted in the poor to be poorer and the rich becoming richer this gap was caused by inflation that led to the economic crisis. There was a spike in fuel prices like never before, the petroleum prices are touching the sky, transportation has become unbearable for civilians, the import demand is more and the export is less, the health care is in shambles, the education department is least of the concerns, the global warming is not even in the cards. In 2022 mango production has been cut by 50 percent and Pakistan was the 5th biggest mango exporter thanks to the ongoing economic crisis. No power no work. The power shortage is still a thing in winter in Pakistan whereas, gas has always been considered an alien during harsh cold weather. Production cost has tremendously increased causing the demand to decrease at an alarming level and causing the buyer and seller relationship to become rocky. All of the above results in the increase in unemployment in the state where the youth is the majority. The catastrophe also doesn’t help the situation. The floods in Pakistan this year have also caused great economic sit back destroying one-third of the state and major crop-making lands. To sum it all up the father of reason has to be corruption which has been the problem of the state since emerged on the map of the world. An empathetic, sincere leader and government without faults is the way out of this economic crisis. If we work on our deep structural problems, poorly managed developed tax policy, unfriendly investment environment, and inability to manage fiscal deficit then Pakistan might not become the next failed state hopefully.