The federal government recently made Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb tell the entire nation in a pre-recorded message that protests, long marches and road blockades cost Pakistan Rs. 120 billion daily.
Good. Take care of it. But the number is big enough to grab attention. It also raises another obvious question: who is counting the cost of stopping the protests? Because it looks like containers are more expensive than protests.
Aurangzeb said the estimate was prepared by Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal’s team and counts Rs. 86 billion in services, Rs. 25 billion in industry and Rs. 9 billion in agriculture.
There is little doubt that prolonged disruption hurts businesses. Transport slows, shops lose customers, supply chains suffer and daily wage workers lose income.
Economic Calculation Should Not Stop There^
When protests are expected, authorities also impose security measures that perfectly disrupt normal economic activity. Roads can be restricted, commercial movement can slow and access to important areas can become difficult. The government itself has warned that it will take measures to prevent protesters from blocking roads and reaching Islamabad.
Counter Measures Are MORE Expensive
A container placed on a road does not produce anything. A truck stuck in traffic does not deliver anything. Thousands of vehicles burning extra fuel while sitting in congestion are not helping the economy either.
So the Finance Ministry’s Rs. 120 billion calculation would be more useful if it also included the economic cost of the measures used to contain protests. A transport owners’ spokesperson told ProPakistani multiple times that they lost Rs. 280 million for two weeks’ worth of the capital siege.
This is especially relevant because Pakistan is still dealing with significant economic pressures despite the improvement in reserves. In such an economy, every wasted working hour, unnecessary litre of fuel and delayed shipment matters.
Is Govt Right to Worry?
The government is right to worry about disruption. But economic damage does not stop being damage simply because a government agency causes it.
If protests come with a Rs. 120 billion daily bill, the country should count the full bill.
Including the containers.
The views here belong to the author.
The post Containers Are More Expensive Than Protests appeared first on ProPakistani.
