Former President of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) Dr. Shahid Rasheed Butt on Sunday said the foreign exchange reserves have fallen further while the IMF is not ready to cooperate.
In these circumstances, it has become impossible for Pakistan to survive without more loans from friendly countries, he added.
Shahid Rasheed Butt said that containers full of fruits, vegetables and other food items are piling up at the ports, which are not being cleared resulting in scarcity and price hikes.
The authorities are not clearing poultry and animal feed which is increasing the inflation in the country.
In a statement issued here today, he said that necessary raw materials and medicines are not being cleared to save dollars, while foreign companies and investors cannot repatriate their profits.
He informed that the value of the goods stopped at the port has reached about five billion dollars and it is increasing daily panicking masses and the business community.
The business leader noted that friendly countries have kept ten billion dollars in Pakistan and the country’s treasury cannot afford more than one month’s worth of imports.
Despite grim scenario, the options of reducing oil consumption, banning foreign travel, and closing shops in the evening are not being considered which is unfortunate.
It is possible to save three and a half billion dollars by saving electricity alone while making travel for religious purposes subject to NOC can also save two billion dollars.
Ban on traveling on foreign airlines and some restrictions on the use of private vehicles like being observed in many European countries can also cut import bills.
Mr. Butt said that Pakistan is confronting multiple, compounding crises, from Covid-19, energy, inflation, debt, and climate shocks to unaffordable living costs and political instability.
A lack of effective taxation and debt-reduction initiatives threatens to exacerbate the macroeconomic instability and daily hardships that people are facing and policies are making economic recovery even more difficult.
The indifference to the ground realities of the government will be deeply harmful to the population, especially to women.
