As Pakistan’s farmers grapple with the terrible fallout from this year’s crash of domestic wheat prices, the Punjab government’s plan to set up a glass-roof train commuting from Islamabad to Murree smacks of nothing short of an economic disconnect.

It is yet another example of a failure to address the biggest challenges faced by Pakistan’s mainstream population, saddled with dangerous stress led by worsening food insecurity and a failure to make ends meet.

The disconnect vividly illustrated with the planned glass-roof train while real-life challenges are ignored comes as Pakistan began another troublesome financial year this week. It is increasingly becoming clear that tackling the worst economic crisis in the nation’s history may well be beyond the capacity of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government.

Seldom before has Pakistan become locked in such a widespread economic slowdown coinciding with uncertain politics. Meanwhile, the outlook for the future has not been helped by a budget that seems to have failed to lock in many more areas for tax collection.

Though projections for tax collections for the July 2024-June 2025 financial year will see higher rates for indirect taxes, a major gap remains in expanding the sources of direct tax collections much more robustly. While higher rates........

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