KARACHI: Chairman of National Business Group Pakistan and President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum Mian Zahid Hussain said that the country’s economy is improving after the downturn.
Presently, the internal monetary fund (IMF) is satisfied, inflation is slowing down after peaking, deficits and the dollar are under control, and the foreign exchange reserves situation is no longer worrying, he said.
He said that under SIFC massive investment agreements are being finalised with Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
At the same time, more game-changing measures are expected after the elections. All these promising measures will boost industrialisation, agriculture, and exports, which will help the country generating more employment opportunities.
He said that there are positive signs that will help the authorities reduce the interest rates and provide some relief to the masses.
Mian Zahid further said that the most significant credit for saving the sinking ship of the economy goes to the Shahbaz Sharif government because if they had failed to get loans from the friendly countries and sign a standby loan agreement with the IMF, the country would have gone bankrupt.
After the loan, the current caretaker government and military leadership demonstrated responsibility, he said. They took tough decisions that resulted in the satisfaction of the IMF, sending a positive message to investors and creditors worldwide.
Now, timely and transparent elections and another IMF program will be a test for our leaders, in which their complete success is necessary and very important for political and economic stability, he said.
Mian Zahid further said that the current program of the IMF is to save the country from bankruptcy, and more is needed to correct the economy’s direction and pave the way for economic development.
Pakistan’s economy has been so mismanaged in the past that another IMF program can reduce but not eliminate its problems. If responsible policies are continued, failed state owned enterprises are privatised, and the losses in the energy sector are reduced, the situation will change.
He warned that the old situation will return if economic decisions are taken on political considerations and resources are squandered for cheap political fame.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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