Traders and industrialists, criticising the present government for taking foreign debts to an ‘alarming’ level of $58 billion, have called upon the business community for devising a joint plan of action taking into account the pitiable state of the economy. These views were expressed by leader of the business community and Vice President, Asia Pacific Chamber of Commerce and Industry (APCCI), Tariq Sayeed. Addressing a luncheon meeting at Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI), the APCCI official said that the government had printed currency notes worth Rs1 trillion, figures which is extremely alarming.
“The government has borrowed Rs 17.8 billion during the last fiscal year,” Tariq said adding State Minister for Finance Hina Rabbani Khar had, on the other hand, disclosed that the banks had written-off loans worth $74.38 billion of influential figures.Expressing concern over the dreadful state of the country’s economy, the industrialist called upon the business community to sit together to devise a joint plan of action to cope with the present circumstances. “This is high time for all business factions to get united and come up with a plan of action to rescue the dying economy,” Tariq said. He also advised the business community to start looking towards Asia instead of the US for enhancing trade. He demanded that Indian entrepreneurs should also be allowed to invest and set up their manufacturing plants in Pakistan. He stressed the need for curbing unnecessary imports worth $8 billion annually. President Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) Senator Haji Ghulam Ali expressed his disappointment over the way business community is being treated by the government. “The business community has helped the government meet its revenue targets but in return the government is strangulating businessmen,” Ali said. He added that it was extremely disturbing that stakeholders are leaving the country and capital is flying away from Pakistan. He called upon the business community to devise a strategy to confront these challenges. In his address, Patron In-chief KATI S.M. Muneer showed concern over the burgeoning circular debts that have now piled up to Rs180 billion. “The prime minister should resolve this issue otherwise some of the public sector organisations would go bankrupt.”
He said that so far a huge amount of $3 billion has been shifted to Malaysia, by various stakeholders due to volatile law and order in the city. KATI Chairman Syed Johar Ali Qandhari, pointed out that industries have started closing down in the country’s largest industrial area, Korangi due to the worsening power crisis. He explained that due to ever-increasing utilities’ prices, cost of doing business has gone up by over 37 per cent compared to China, India and other countries in the region. He called upon the FPCCI to come forward and play its due role in tackling the situation. He demanded the business community to pressurise the government to mend its ways and play its role in bailing out the economy. The former KATI Chairman Mian Zahid Husain said all economic indicators were showing a downfall and increasing debts have created an alarming situation for the economy. He further added that the country was heading towards de-industrialisation due to government policies and the stakeholders should rise to the occasion and safeguard the national economic sovereignty.
The chairman demanded from the government to seriously take up the matter of loss-making public sector enterprises (PSEs) that are drawing approximately Rs400 to Rs500 billion annually. He said that PIA should in no way be running into losses and if handed over to the private sector, “we guarantee it would break even in the first year”.