Lack of accountability in power bureaucracy compounding electricity problems
Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) President Abdul Rauf Alam on Monday said the Apex chamber will cooperate with the government at every level without compromising the interests of the business community.
He said that the government had achieved economic stability and now, time had come to push for privatisation and to reform public sector enterprises while preferring growth over stability to improve exports, revenue and jobs.
Speaking at a dinner hosted by UBG Secretary General Zubair Tufail in honour of UBG Chairman Iftikhar Ali Malik, UBG Patron-in-Chief SM Muneer and others, the FPCCI president said that the Chamber had cooperated a lot with the government during the last year.
“Now the authorities should take the business community in confidence before taking economic decisions, without which the success of such moves remains uncertain,” he demanded.
He said that growth rate, forex reserves and current account deficit situation had improved while large scale manufacturing had picked up but issue of refunds, expanded tax base and reforms in the bleeding corporations were yet to be addressed.
Pakistan’s tax capacity is over 22 per cent of the GDP but the revenue gas is almost 11 per cent which is unsustainable, Alam said, adding that bridging the tax gap could help the country resolve all its problems including dependence on domestic and foreign loans.
Lauding the energy policy of the government, he said that the incumbent administration was trying hard to ensure dependable supply of electricity but it also needed to initiate reforms and up-gradation as the national grid tripped twice within the last few days plunging two provinces into darkness.
The government should also consider overhauling the power bureaucracy which is sluggish in response to electricity crises. He said that the government should fix responsibility for the whole issue as incidents like this did not only punish the masses but also the business community.
He demanded of the government to immediately reduce petroleum prices as the international price was at the lowest in the last three decades.
Speaking on the occasion, SM Muneer said that UBG would continue to serve the interests of business community and that he was proud of the efforts of Alam and his team.
TDAP has been cleansed of corruption and now it is gearing up to help exporters in a great way, he added.
Zubair Tufail asked the newly-elected president of FPCCI to try his best to live up to the expectations of the business community, try to get refunds cleared and push for duty free import of plants and machinery.