Pakistan lost $118.3bn to war on terror: SBP

RIZWAN BHATTI

KARACHI: The country has suffered direct and indirect losses from terrorism to the tune of $118.3 billion during 14 years (FY02 to FY16). The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), in its annual report State of Pakistan's Economy said that the losses due to war on terror are almost double the level of Pakistan's external public debt.

Unfortunately, Pakistan has been afflicted with the war on terrorism for the past many years and both economic growth and social sector development have been severely hampered by terrorism-related incidents. Apart from causing immeasurable human suffering (casualties and displacements), these have also resulted in huge loss to the country's economy.

Due to terrorism, foreign investors shying away from the country, while domestic investors adopted a wait and see stance. In addition, exporters were unable to fulfil their orders due to disruptions in supply chains, among other reasons and a general slowdown in intra-country trade was also witnessed.