President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF), President All Karachi Industrial Alliance (AKIA), Senior Vice Chairman of the Businessmen Panel of FPCCI and former provincial minister, Mian Zahid Hussain on Wednesday said the country is passing through a critical phase therefore all the political parties should shun differences to support charter of economy. The government should provide enabling environment to make charter of economy a success as the inflation has taken a toll on the poor and middle class who deserve some respite, he said.
Talking to the business community, the veteran business leader said that exchange rate erosion, increasing price of energy, fall of the stock market and budget differences should be taken seriously by the government.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that despite best efforts, the government has failed to provide any relief to masses while the opposition is cashing on the situation without focusing on the resolution of the problems.
The former minister noted that government should form a high-level committee encompassing all the political parties which should try to salvage the economy. All the political parties have a general consensus on defense, foreign policy and terrorism, therefore agreement on the economic issues is not very difficult. The committee should be above the political considerations as the political parties can join hands to improve the economy without compromising of their stance for the sake of the country.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that economic decisions not be based on political concerns is the best way to ensure rapid national development. He said that loans will never help the country overcome problems as it can provide temporary relief otherwise borrowing worth USD100 billion would have made Pakistan a developed nation.
The government’s efforts to raise revenue are not satisfactory resulting in borrowing as the economy remained misbalanced. Regional countries have tax to GDP ratio of 18 to 20 percent while in Pakistan it is almost half of it.
