The national economy is in complete shambles and there are no or minimum chances to revival it. The foreign exchange reserves are falling with full speed.

Same is the case with the exports increasing the trade deficit to an unprecedented level. In order to increase revenue, the Government is adopting short cut by increasing the petroleum prices to the disadvantage of the people. The temporary measures are adopted by the Government to cover the budget deficit with no signs that the rulers will curtail their own perks and privileges.

Thanks God that the former Prime Minister is ousted by the Supreme Court after he was found guilty for cheating, fraud and tampering with the documents. Otherwise, he would have undertaken tours of a dozens of countries on one pretext or other putting more strain on the public exchequer.

At least monarchy of the uncrowned King of Pakistan is overthrown saving some money and putting an end to his lavish spending of public money.

Disparities between the developed and undeveloped provinces had widened as Balochistan was denied funds for development and its most prestigious mega projects are shelved or inordinately delayed by designs with an intention to keep Balochistan undeveloped, backed for an indefinite future. The Kachhi Canal Project is shelved; Naulang Dam is delay by a decade.

There is zero investment on Gwadar Port Project and only three cranes added during the past 15 long years. There is no word about linking Gwadar Port with the landlocked Central Asian countries through rail and road and ensure an earning of six billion US dollars from transit trade through Gwadar.

The Government failed to solve the water shortage issue for Gwadar people leaving aside the demand for water for commercial and industrial uses at Gwadar Port. For all visible reasons, the Gwadar Port project is doomed as the Government is showing no interest in its early completion.

Balochistan is rich in mineral wealth, particularly in metal mines. After Saindak Project, no efforts were made to develop other metal mines. Iron ore was discovered decades ago and the Government made no efforts to exploit those minerals and metal for development.

On the contrary, the Iranian Government is establishing two huge steel mills in Chah Bahar based on iron ore in Iranian parts of Balochistan. One mill is being established by Japan with a capacity of two million tons of steel and another is being built by South Korea with a capacity to produce 1.5 million tons.

Both the projects are being established in Chah Bahar. Pakistan Government had stopped state buying of iron ore in Chagai deposits. For the seven long decades, not a single mineral project of Balochistan was taken in hand to take the country out of the economic crisis.

The successive Governments in Pakistan was found lavishly spending public money and in waste and the rulers were never found in generating more revenue by exploiting the natural resources of Balochistan. The short cut is available to the corrupt and dishonest rulers to increase taxes or increase the burden on the common man.

The PPP did the right thing by opposing the increase in the prices of petroleum by holding mass demonstrations in all parts of Pakistan, including some parts of Azad Kashmir.

We cannot defend national security with a very weak national economy. Particularly tension is rising in the entire region after President Trump had announced his South Asia policy wooing India and Afghanistan against Pakistan. The rulers should curtail imports immediately and bridge the wide gap in trade deficit.

Rather, the exports should be increased. The Government had already announced a package of Rs 180 billion for the erstwhile textile sector to boost export so that the trade deficit is plugged reasonably.