Pakistan, May 23 -- A student recently asked me to outline an ideal people-friendly budget. My answer was and remains this: it should boast long-term vision for growth and prosperity while doing economic justice by all social classes. It must ensure equitable growth and prioritise lifting people out of poverty. Thus, here in Pakistan, the federal and provincial budgets must focus on welfare programmes that provide a safety-net to catch those who would otherwise fall through the gaps. All the while enabling those suffering from the economic fallout of Covid-19 to be economically mobile.

Fiscal policy, as part of budgetary practice, must be used as a tool of distributive policy that safeguards against the wealthy having a monopoly on polit...