Economic experts had resignation and frustration on Friday when they talked about the financial challenges of Pakistan and the way to follow the first day of the 16th Karachi Literature Festival (KLF).
The panel, which consists of well -known names as the former Minister of Finance, Miftah Ismail, the economic journalist Khurram Husain, advisor to the finance minister Khurram Schehzad and the outstanding industrialist Arif Habib, spoke extensively in the discussion about the problems that plague the economy.
Husain highlighted the difficult situation of those who gain daily wages, stressing that their purchasing power was destroyed by 30 percent since 2021 despite the ease of inflationary pressure now.
“We are no longer in the midst of a fierce inflationary fire, that fire has become extinguished, the predetermined cliff has retired, so that is a place that the economy is located, but this is where the good news ends,” he said.
He pointed out that the current stability period was at the back of the same tools as the entire government in the past had used, which was a combination of interest rates and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) of high interest rates and devaluation of foreign exchange.
“Much destruction of purchasing power [has happened]”Husain emphasized, adding that there was a” type of incorrect conversation “where industry delegations insisted on reducing taxes for themselves.
“You cannot start relaxing everything by granting specific fiscal breakdown of the sector to industry groups at the time the economy successfully stabilizes,” he said.
Ismail also remained skeptical about the role of government in the ease of inflationary pressure. He admitted that there was ease in inflationary pressure, but questioned the role of government in economic stability.
“What steps the government has taken for this? You discover that the government has done nothing, global prices fell and, therefore, inflation in Pakistan fell and, because of that, there was a reduction in the policy rate, ”he said.
He said that the economic well -being of citizens was never really a goal for the current government, “as is for other countries.”
“The objective of this government, for the most part, has been how to reduce the popularity of Imran Khan and has failed in that,” he said.
“This government, apart from Peca and the 26th amendment, has not taken any measure for economic well -being,” he said, highlighting that the government had repeatedly asked citizens to practice austerity by increasing taxes, however, it failed to have Your well -being into account.
Ismail lamented the poor state of education and unbridled corruption in public sector development projects.
He pointed out that Pakistan’s electricity prices were much more expensive than Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, South Africa and obviously also also from southern Asia.
“Then, when someone in the Middle East or an American thinks about investment, think of these other countries,” he said.
Meanwhile, Schehzad offered some guarantees to the crowd, stating that the government was focusing on reducing expenses.
“This is the focus at this time, although I am not sure if it has been transmitted to the market correctly,” he said, adding that the rights were being carried out, citing an amount of $ 3 billion or RS836bn as a budget.
With respect to tax expenses, he listed the functioning of the government, pensions, state entities and energy as the main expenses.
On the way to follow, Ismail offered some solutions, such as the return of power to local governments, stating that they had to be empowered.
“Number two: the federal government footprint must decrease and privatize, it has the most expensive electricity in the world due to unbridled corruption, theft and losses of transmission and distribution,” he said.
Ismail also suggested directly transfer to those who live below the poverty line instead of depending on provincial governments, citing the example of Baluchistan.
