Pakistan Industrial and Traders Associations Front (Piaf) has termed the year 2011, a worst year for trade and industry that is likely to eclipse the entire economic activity in 2012 as well if the future business-related policies were made without private sector consultation.
In its yearly review, the Piaf Chairman Sohail Lashari said that an acute shortage of gas, electricity, repeated increases in the prices of petroleum products and issuance of anti-trade and anti-industry SROs by the FBR were the prominent features that kept the entire economy hostage during the yester year.
Lashari said that despite repeated appeals to the government, no heed was paid to the construction of mega water reservoirs in the country for ensuring cheaper electricity to the trade and industry and resultantly the prices of electricity were almost doubled that pushed the export oriented industry to the wall. He said that preference was given to Rental Power Projects that have eaten up a staggering amount of Rs 50 billion during 2011.
The Piaf Chairman said that it beyond the understanding of the business community why the hydel potential of the country that is more than 54,500 in northern areas only could not be tapped. It seemed that the electricity situation would witness hardly any improvement in 2012 as well. He said that it was not the Piaf, alone but the State Bank of Pakistan in its all quarterly reports also invited the attention of the government towards the deteriorating economy, but the people who are sitting at the helm kept their dependence on local and foreign loans.
They broke all the previous records of domestic borrowing instead of focusing on generating economic activity in the country. He said that had a little attention was given towards creating economic activity in the country, the unemployment graph would have been much lower today. He said that it were the encouraging flow of remittances that help in a big way to run day-to-day affairs.
Over the gas shortage, the Piaf Chairman said that no work was done to complete Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, which is the shortest possible solution to overcome the gas shortage. He said that no reforms were initiated for the Public Sector Enterprises that are eating up Rs 400 billion annually from the public exchequer. He said that the loss borne by the Pakistan Steel Mills was reached Rs 104 Billion and the production was only 15 percent while in the year 2007-8 the production was 82 percent and it was a profit-making institution from 2000 to 2007.