The Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) on Monday said the structure of the Pakistani economy is full of flaws. Local businessmen are out to reap benefits and do not fulfil their responsibilities and obligations.
Politicians and bureaucrats drive away real investors so that they can continue to benefit from the plunder of the mafia, it said.
Despite being a nuclear power we are unable cannot deal with the rain which speaks volumes about our priorities, said Brig. (retd) Aslam Khan, Chairman PEW.
In a statement issued here today, he said that until the decisions of the economy are made on merit, the country will continue to run on loans.
Aslam Khan said that the coronavirus, Russian war and floods have exposed the weakness and deep structural flaws in the country’s economy, but no efforts are being made to improve it.
He said that despite challenges, all the emphasis is being given to ad hoc policies while the leading economist is considered to be the one who can manage the loans.
He noted that the system of the country has been corrupted by the influential traders while the politicians and the bureaucracy force the real investors to flee so that the mafia can flourish which takes good care of them.
The country continues to suffer from low investment, low savings, reduced exports and unsatisfactory productivity while inflation remains in the double digits, he added.
Productive sectors remain under stress and non-productive sectors including real estate are always favoured. Farmers and the private sector neither get cheap loans nor refunds paid on time and imports are prioritized over exports.
There is a severe lack of transparency, the cost of borrowing is high, credit and other laws are either weak or non-existent, and the relevant institutions are also weak which is hindering investment.
Aslam Khan said that illiteracy is common in the country and financial literacy is so low that investors are afraid to invest in Pakistan. Unless these issues are corrected, even the world’s greatest economist cannot help develop the Pakistani economy.
