LAHORE - Former Federal Finance Minister and Chairman Burki Institute of Public Policy Shahid Javed Burki has said that Pakistan would have to focus on the promotion of regional trade to ensure economic growth.
He was speaking at a meeting at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry. LCCI President Mian Nauman Kabir, Senior Vice President Mian Rehman Aziz Chan and Vice President Haris Ateeq also spoke on the occasion. Shahid Javed Burki said that among the neighboring countries, China is most eager to help Pakistan and we should take advantage of this. He said that Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh should work together for socio-economic development in the region and for eradication of poverty.
“There is a dire need to improve soft image of the country in the world”, he said and lamented that various Pakistanis abroad speak against their own country. Shahid Javed Burki said that Pakistani women have a lot of potential and the attention should be paid to the development of women entrepreneurship in Pakistan. He said that Pakistan should focus on value addition in agriculture sector. He said that Gwadar is the most important port in the region and would play a vital role in economic development of the country.
LCCI President Mian Nauman Kabir spelled out the challenges that needed to be addressed to achieve the desired pace of economic growth. He said that the trade deficit in the first eight months of the current financial year (July-February 2021-22) stood at around 32 billion dollars, which is 82% higher as compared to the same period last year.
He said that the lack of stability in the exchange rate market is a huge concern for business community as our industrial sector is heavily dependent on the imports of raw materials and machinery. The massive devaluation in the recent years has increased the cost of doing business tremendously. Mian Nauman Kabir said inflation rate has been exorbitantly high since the last few months as it stood at 12.2% in the month of February 2022, 13% in January 2022 and 12% in December 2021. Due to ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, the global oil prices have skyrocketed and surpassed 100 dollars per barrel while the commodity prices have also increased.
While talking about the monetary policy, Mian Nauman Kabir said that the policy rate has been increased to 9.75%, which is the highest in the region (India 4%, Bangladesh 4.75%, China 3.8%, and Sri Lanka 5.5%). He said that the Monetary Policy should support industrialization. Unfortunately in the past, the previous governments used the policy of increasing the interest rates to control inflation. Instead of curbing inflation, that resulted in rapid de-industrialization and hindered the private sector growth.
The LCCI president added that the access to finance is a persistent challenge for our private sector. The SMEs in Pakistan only get 6.5% of the private sector credit while the number of SME borrowers is only around 164 thousand. The commercial banks in the country should be obligated to create more financial space for the SMEs.
Mian Nauman Kabir said that the losses of the state owned enterprises are a big stumbling block in the economic development of Pakistan. The outstanding debt of public sector enterprises according to the State Bank data stood at above 1.5 trillion rupees in December 2021.The privatization process of the state owned enterprises seems to be at a complete standstill. He said that the government has announced another amnesty scheme to attract investment in the industrial sector in Pakistan. He said that successive governments in the past have failed to expand the tax base which is still around 3 million taxpayers. As a result, the existing taxpayers are always squeezed badly in the government’s efforts to increase tax revenues.
LCCI Vice President Haris Ateeq called for a National Economic Policy to cope the economic challenges saying that all segments should be on one page on this issue. He said that all the stakeholders must be taken on board while formulating the National Economic Policy.
Former President Sohail Lashari, former SVP Kashif Younas Mehar, EC Members Abdul Wadood Alvi, Ahmad Elahi and Malik Riaz Iqal were also present.
He was speaking at a meeting at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry. LCCI President Mian Nauman Kabir, Senior Vice President Mian Rehman Aziz Chan and Vice President Haris Ateeq also spoke on the occasion. Shahid Javed Burki said that among the neighboring countries, China is most eager to help Pakistan and we should take advantage of this. He said that Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh should work together for socio-economic development in the region and for eradication of poverty.
“There is a dire need to improve soft image of the country in the world”, he said and lamented that various Pakistanis abroad speak against their own country. Shahid Javed Burki said that Pakistani women have a lot of potential and the attention should be paid to the development of women entrepreneurship in Pakistan. He said that Pakistan should focus on value addition in agriculture sector. He said that Gwadar is the most important port in the region and would play a vital role in economic development of the country.
LCCI President Mian Nauman Kabir spelled out the challenges that needed to be addressed to achieve the desired pace of economic growth. He said that the trade deficit in the first eight months of the current financial year (July-February 2021-22) stood at around 32 billion dollars, which is 82% higher as compared to the same period last year.
He said that the lack of stability in the exchange rate market is a huge concern for business community as our industrial sector is heavily dependent on the imports of raw materials and machinery. The massive devaluation in the recent years has increased the cost of doing business tremendously. Mian Nauman Kabir said inflation rate has been exorbitantly high since the last few months as it stood at 12.2% in the month of February 2022, 13% in January 2022 and 12% in December 2021. Due to ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, the global oil prices have skyrocketed and surpassed 100 dollars per barrel while the commodity prices have also increased.
While talking about the monetary policy, Mian Nauman Kabir said that the policy rate has been increased to 9.75%, which is the highest in the region (India 4%, Bangladesh 4.75%, China 3.8%, and Sri Lanka 5.5%). He said that the Monetary Policy should support industrialization. Unfortunately in the past, the previous governments used the policy of increasing the interest rates to control inflation. Instead of curbing inflation, that resulted in rapid de-industrialization and hindered the private sector growth.
The LCCI president added that the access to finance is a persistent challenge for our private sector. The SMEs in Pakistan only get 6.5% of the private sector credit while the number of SME borrowers is only around 164 thousand. The commercial banks in the country should be obligated to create more financial space for the SMEs.
Mian Nauman Kabir said that the losses of the state owned enterprises are a big stumbling block in the economic development of Pakistan. The outstanding debt of public sector enterprises according to the State Bank data stood at above 1.5 trillion rupees in December 2021.The privatization process of the state owned enterprises seems to be at a complete standstill. He said that the government has announced another amnesty scheme to attract investment in the industrial sector in Pakistan. He said that successive governments in the past have failed to expand the tax base which is still around 3 million taxpayers. As a result, the existing taxpayers are always squeezed badly in the government’s efforts to increase tax revenues.
LCCI Vice President Haris Ateeq called for a National Economic Policy to cope the economic challenges saying that all segments should be on one page on this issue. He said that all the stakeholders must be taken on board while formulating the National Economic Policy.
Former President Sohail Lashari, former SVP Kashif Younas Mehar, EC Members Abdul Wadood Alvi, Ahmad Elahi and Malik Riaz Iqal were also present.
