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Karachi, 13 Oct 2023: In a communication to the business community, Mian Zahid Hussain, a prominent business leader holding positions as Chairman of National Business Group Pakistan, President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum, and All Karachi Industrial Alliance, and former provincial minister, emphasized on Friday the escalating predicament of Pakistan’s growing dependence on loans, alongside a diminishing capacity to shoulder debt burdens. The information was conveyed via a press release from the Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum. Hussain accentuated that the accelerated reliance on loans juxtaposed with an inversely proportional ability to bear debt represents a precarious financial balance, necessitating that Pakistan learn to navigate economic waters autonomously as lenders and allied countries recede in their support.
Hussain informed that the current attention is pivoting towards new investments from Arab countries, utilizing the platform of the Saudi Investment Forum Conference (SIFC) diligently. He opined that if the SIFC initiative circumvents traditional lethargy and incompetence, it could potentially harness an investment influx of 75 billion dollars. Hussain posited that should capital from Arab nations materialize under this new model, similar frameworks could be implemented to revitalize other non-performing institutions within the country.
Moreover, he asserted that if Pakistan is successful in foreign investment endeavours, it could burgeon into an attractor for additional countries, underlining the necessity of refining policies for sustained relief as opposed to transient reprieves. Hussain emphasized the criticality of according appropriate attention to all economic sectors, which is indispensable for triumph in these ventures.
People are vying for tangible economic change rather than political shifts, stated Hussain, identifying a small subset of individuals who reap benefits from the current flawed system and thus resist change. He noted that these individuals adeptly exploit the prevailing economic and political turmoil, aware that the establishment of self-reliance within Pakistan would herald the cessation of their exploitative opportunities.
Hussain highlighted the existing palpable concern within a significant portion of the country’s populace who desire enhancements to their situation. He provided a statistical perspective, noting that until 2013, the nation’s debt was equivalent to 63.3 percent of its GDP, which has burgeoned to 74.3 percent as of 2023, with interest payments on loans amassing to 7500 billion rupees. He advocated for the immediate privatization of non-performing companies as a solitary solution to the tribulations, asserting that it would not only save one thousand billion rupees annually but also generate transient revenue.
In terms of strategy, Hussain insisted on the enhancement of the energy sector, reduction in reliance on Independent Power Producers (IPPs), and amplification of solar energy utilization, while concurrently diminishing the tax burden on the impoverished and transferring it to the affluent. Furthermore, he called for the persistent, vigorous enforcement of anti-smuggling, hoarding, and anti-corruption measures. He concluded with a forewarning that should the conflict between the Palestinians and Israel perpetuate, it could precipitate a swift alteration in global circumstances, inducing a surge in oil prices and potentially reshaping the priorities of Arab nations concerning Pakistan.
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