Short on reform

The latest federal budget was very disappointing because it completely lacked meaningful reforms which the country’s economy needs urgently. Clearly, Pakistan’s current economic model is not sustainable at all. We did not see many reforms. It was expected that retailers and agriculturists would be brought into the tax net but, likely due to political reasons, they remain largely outside the net. The government has been assuring the people that it will carry out speedy privatization of state-owned enterprises but we did not find anything specifically about privatization in this budget.

I think Pakistan’s economy cannot survive without structural reforms and the current government has missed an opportunity to put the economy on the correct path. I cannot believe this disappointing budget was prepared and presented by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, who is a very highly qualified banker.

Ejaz Ahmad Magoon (FCA)

London

UK