For the second fortnight in a row, the government has refrained for passing on to the consumer the benefit of the fall in international oil prices, instead raising the petroleum levy Rs 8. As the levy was already at a maximum Rs 80 per litre, this required fresh legislation/ This was so that the money thus raised could be devoted to development spending for Balochistan. The Rs 300 billion raised will be to infrastructure projects in Balochistan. This new sympathy for Balochistan coincides with a more general wish of the Federal Board of Revenue for the oil price decreases not to be passed on, so that revenue which depends on the oil price, such as sales tax and operator’s without holding tax, would go down. IMF targets would remain the same, as they are meant to generate a certain primary revenue surplus. The more general excuse given is that lowering the price would mean an increase in demand, which would make the import bill swell. The first decreed was bused to provide n electricity subsidy. This position may be difficult to maintain. Though oil prices were soft even before US President Donald Trump made his first tariff announcement, the expectation of worldwide depression made oil prices continue to fall. If the fall continues, how much longer can the consumer be denied?
Though it is clear that Balochistan suffers from deprivation, which has exploded both into religious militancy and separatist insurgency, it is not clear that infrastructure development will reduce the feeling of deprivation. The connection of deprivation with physical infrastructure does not account for the feeling that the people of the province are not masters of their destiny. The effect of educating the people has been completely ignored. It also seems clear that the federal government intends to have the last word on the funds,
The money must be spent in consultation with the provincial government, if it is to have any effect, and the federal government should be ready for the other provinces to raise demands and complain they have been left out. It is not as if the other provinces are overflowing with infrastructure, or that there is no feeling of deprivation in the other provinces. The federal government can only hope that world oil prices keep on falling, so that it has sources of funding to meet these demands.
