‘Govt needs to shun IMF’s role in policymaking’

LAHORE: Pakistan’s economy is inching towards point of no return due to interference by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) into policy making, an official said on Saturday.

“I had identified 25 sectors to overcome trade deficit. I am working day in and day out to help jack-up exports and curtail imports,” LCCI President Malik Tahir Javaid said.

Industry is the main victim of deepening economic crisis, he said, adding that the rupee devaluation is adding to the economic miseries of the country and all these ills produced just because of awful interference of the IMF in the Pakistan’s economic matters and dictations to the policymakers for taking harsh measures.

The LCCI president said Pakistan is the “most frequent customer” of the IMF and Pakistani governments often depends on borrowing from the IMF and accepted stringent conditions, despite the fact that this institution is merciless money lender, which always forced Pakistan to adopt bad policies such as rupee devaluation and massive increase in the electricity and gas tariffs.

“How a country can take independent decisions and grow its economy when it is carrying the burden of over $85 billion debt and utilising huge part of the federal budget for debt servicing?” The LCCI president said.

Pakistan would be a loser in many heads, if immediate measures are not taken to get rid of the massive loans, which are the mother of most of the economic ills, Javaid said.

Meanwhile, LCCI office-bearers Malik Tahir Javaid, Senior Vice President Khawaja Khawar Rashid and Vice President Zeeshan Khalil also demanded appointment of a permanent finance minister.

Business community understands that there is no overnight solution to the economic problems, but there is a dire need to set directions and to introduce economic reforms in the favour of trade and industry, they said, adding that the country should have a permanent finance minister.

The country faced various economic challenges last year, including decline in exports and foreign direct investment, lowest tax-to-GDP ratio and inefficiency of the public sector entities, but these challenges can be coped through meaningful partnership and dialogues between the government and the private sector.

Giving formula for economic independence, the LCCI office-bearers said there are a number of issues that must be tackled on a priority basis. The biggest problem is how to keep the momentum of growth in the wake of a less-than-targeted growth of the agriculture and manufacturing sectors.

Likewise, the widening gap between exports and imports could be contained by enhancing exports, they said, adding that the government would also have to focus on agriculture, manufacturing, education, water, human resources, minerals, public health, tax collection system.

Agriculture is the largest sector of Pakistan as around 43 percent labour depends on this sector.

This largest sector needs revolutionary reforms on war footings, they said, adding that the growth of agriculture sector would not only ensure food security and provision of raw material to the textile industry, but would also generate huge revenue for the government and vast employment opportunities.

The country’s population is growing at the rate of 2.10 percent every year and, if this growth continues for the next two decades, the population would cross the mark of 240 million. Pakistan needs to increase the yield/acre on steady pace; therefore, the government should plan to bring around nine million hectares of fertile land under cultivation, which remained useless just because of water shortage.

The LCCI office-bearers also stressed on the construction of Kalabagh Dam.

Pakistan is enriched with mineral resources worth trillions of dollars that can make the dream of economic stability come true, they said, adding that these resources should be fully utilised for economic uplift of the country, and local companies should be given priority for mining.

The office-bearers said the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry would continue to play its due role and supplement the government endeavours aimed at economic revival of the country and had already started spade work, in this regard, to identify the challenges being faced by the trade and industry.

They also stressed the need for developing regional, product-specific and target-oriented marketing strategy.

New markets and new products need to be explored to reduce the country’s dependence on a few commodities and countries.

Pakistan’s exports are highly concentrated in a few items. Such concentration in a few markets can also become a source for instability in export earnings, they said.

The Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) should be revamped and private sector representation should be there to enhance exports, they added.