People paying high cost of economic failure.

(April 25-2023)Former Vice President of FPCCI Atif Ikram Sheikh on Tuesday said that Pakistan is grappling with a monumental crisis due to the wrong priorities of our leaders while regional countries are growing rapidly.

Pakistan is facing a serious food crisis, inflation and unemployment are at a record high while the global community seems uninterested in supporting the country to get rid of these problems, he said.

Atif Ikram Sheikh who has also served as President ICCI and Chairman PVMA said in a statement issued here today that unprecedented flash flooding in 2022 distressed 33 million people, killed over 1,600, and injured another 12,800.

The unprecedented floods destroyed millions of acres of agricultural land and crops and caused immense damage to livestock, the basic source of income for most of the population, he added.

The business leader said that this has led to a scarcity of basic food items, with their prices skyrocketing, triggering widespread food insecurity, hunger, and malnutrition.

To ensure food security, the policymakers must take proactive policy steps to enhance the quality and quantity of crops, which seems difficult in the current scenario, he said.

Atif Ikram Sheikh said that on the other hand, India is making headlines. The country that was only seen as one of the fastest-growing IT hubs, or one of the most lucrative consumer markets, will now be trading with 18 countries in the Indian rupee.

Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa are termed as BRICS due to their unmatched potential to become the dominant supplier of services, manufacturing goods and raw materials. These countries represent 42% of the global population, 23% of the world’s GDP, and 17% of world trade.

Now with BRICS countries coming together and other economies joining them, it is considering the idea of creating an international reserve currency which would be a new world order.

Saudi Arabia and Iran are also rewriting history, but after 75 years of political turbulence, we are still figuring our way around democracy at the cost of our economic future.

The world continues to shrink and operate in connectivity through commerce and trade, international supply chains, digital platforms, data sharing, and transportation. But where does Pakistan stand?

Pakistan is caught in a domestic feud that serves only the greed and personal benefit of a handful of politicians which is extremely unfortunate, especially in the evolving global context.

We can only boost friendly relations with China and Saudi Arabia. The fact that our economic ties are weakening with these nations should be enough to give nightmares to politicians and economists.

Pakistanis are caught up with is a never-ending “election debate” with now the judiciary joining in. In 2021 experts dubbed Pakistan as the world’s 43rd-largest economy with the world’s 5th-largest population which is also one of the youngest in the world.

In 2023, lenders denied financial assistance to Pakistan based on its poor economic outlook and our “friends” followed in its footsteps.

What we lack is the execution and performance of important government departments such as the Ministry of Planning and Finance do not seem to be in sync with the country’s economic reality. There is a clear economic divide among the leading politicians that has further pushed economic growth on the back burner in the favour of political gains.

Sheikh said that the political pandits are satisfied with spending 21 billion rupees on the elections that may never provide the solution to its economic challenges. But politicians will not put their problems aside to cultivate an economic plan that allows its dying financial system to stand on its feet.

Our inability to participate in regional and global connectivity is not only isolating Pakistan on the global stage but is also depriving the nation of the opportunity to grow and compete with other nations. This is the cost we are paying for a democratic system that may fail time and again.