A nation-state that cannot collect taxes from all citizens earning above a certain declared uniform threshold income is a country that is bound to become economically nonfunctional and susceptible to compromising its sovereignty. Thereafter, every successive government followed its predecessor in widening the gap between revenues collected through direct taxation and exports and expenditure. There was political turmoil as the RBI was forced to lease 20 tonnes of gold to raise $234 million. Finally, PM Narasimha Rao took over and stood like a rock behind her Finance Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, who restructured the economy through bold steps and presented a 1991–92 budget, which laid the foundations for boosting India. Pakistan’s economy, on the other hand, tells a completely different story.

Source: The Nation July 08, 2023 22:44 UTC