Pakistan, April 12 -- In a response before the national assembly, the energy ministry declared a significant victory, announcing that it had reduced its massive circular debt by Rs 9 billion in just six months. At first glance, this sounds like a breakthrough: a glimmer of hope in an otherwise bleak energy landscape. But let's not celebrate too soon. When you're standing before a mountain of Rs 2.6 trillion in circular debt, such developments amount to nothing more than scooping a spoonful from a sinking ship and calling it progress.

The question isn't whether the number dropped. The question is how and at what cost. Are we witnessing genuine reform, or has this government decided to meet IMF deadlines with creative accounting?

Subsidie...