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Thursday March 28, 2024

ICST questions claims of economic turnaround by govt

By Saeed Ahmed
May 21, 2018

Islamabad : Islamabad Chamber of Small Traders (ICST) on Sunday questioned the tall claims of economic turnaround, enhanced power generation and increased revenue collection by the incumbent government.

The ground realities would not support the tall claims of the government of an economic turnaround as the country is heading towards bankruptcy.

Similarly claim of adding thousands of megawatts of electricity to the national grid as loadshedding has become the order of the day hurting masses and businesses, it said.

The claim of doubling the revenue collection merits verification as the country is heavily dependent on the borrowing to meet its needs, said Patron Islamabad Chamber of Small Traders Shahid Rasheed Butt.

He said that circular debt has crossed the mark of one thousand billion rupees with no move to pay the power producing companies while the refunds of exporters have also surpassed several trillion rupees.

If the power generation and revenue collection has increased why the government is unable to function without borrowing and make payments to settle the power sector’s circular debt which proves that little has changed, he added.

Refunds have been held back and the amount has become so large that it is hampering industry’s ability to function properly, he noted.

Shahid Rasheed Butt said that industry is not getting refunds but promises of payment which are seldom honoured damaging the government’s relations with the business community.

The business community is sceptical of the last-minute commitments by the government to settle a portion of outstanding payments proves that whatever half-hearted reforms have been initiated have failed, especially in the areas of taxes and the power sector, he said.