President Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) Irfan Qaiser Sheikh has urged the government to review all economic policies to achieve better results in 2012. Talking to Business Recorder on Saturday he said that the government should understand that an acute shortage of electricity, gas, inconsistency in policies and poor law and order situation had hit the economy hard in the past.
Despite repeated appeals to the government, it did not take the private sector on board and lost a number of opportunities that could be tapped with the consultation of the private sector. He said that the situation was so depressing that the industrial productions had nose dived due to energy shortage while the foreigners were reluctant to visit Pakistan due security issues. He said that had the government paid a little attention towards economic issues, the situation today would have been quite encouraging today.
Sheikh said that the government needed to reset its priorities regarding the provision of gas. He said that the recent closure of gas had played havoc with both the trade and industry. He said that it had not only put at stake the jobs of millions of people associated with the industrial sector but also forced a number of industrialists to shift their operations to other countries.
LCCI resident also urged the Governor State Bank of Pakistan to lower the markup rate as on the one hand it would help expedite process of industrialisation in the country while on the other hand it would help jack up tax-to-GDP ratio that presently is the lowest in the region. The business community wanted to pay the taxes, he said, adding that the government should also bring all untaxed sectors into the tax net.
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