Karachi Pakistan – (August-25-2023) Chairman of National Business Group Pakistan, President Pakistan Businessmen and
Intellectuals Forum, and All Karachi Industrial Alliance, and former provincial minister
Mian Zahid Hussain said on Friday that exports and remittances are continuously
decreasing.
Imports are increasing due to the agreement with the IMF to lift the ban on imports,
which is eating up the forex reserves.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that the current account deficit is widening due to increased
imports, the demand for dollars is increasing in proportion, and the value of the rupee is
depreciating rapidly, which leads to electricity, gas, and price inflation.
Talking to the business community, the veteran business leader said that all these factors
are increasing the cost of living and the cost of doing business, and the masses as well as
businessmen are worried.
He said that steps must be taken to increase exports and remittances to prevent the fall of
the rupee.
The business leader said that due to the falling value of the rupee, people are transferring
their savings to the dollar, which has further increased its demand. Currently, the dollar is
being sold in the market for up to 312 rupees, and there is a possibility of a further
increase.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that the rupee has lost 25 percent of its value since the
beginning of this year. After the approval of the loan of three billion dollars by the IMF,
while the risk of Pakistan’s default was reduced, there was temporary stability in the
value of the rupee. Still, now it has started to decline again.
Economists at the time said that this stability was temporary and that the decline would
start again soon if reforms were delayed, and it has, he noted.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that unless heavy losses in the electricity and gas sectors are
eliminated, failed government enterprises are sold, and tax collections are increased by
increasing the tax base, the decline of the rupee will continue.
Erosion in the value of local currency will increase inflation, while the problems of the
people and the business community will continue to multiply.
Mian Zahid Hussain further said that the 71% capacity charges included in the electricity
bills have skyrocketed the tariff.
Mian Zahid Hussain further said that people worried about the current situation are
burning electricity bills in some places and torturing the officials of electricity
companies, which must be noticed.
Immediate treatment of the deadly diseases affecting the economy is necessary, for which
an economic council consisting of all parties should be formed to support the caretaker
government in the required economic reforms that can improve the situation.
