Towards growth

This refers to the letter ‘Housing sector’ (July 31) by Arshad M Khawaja. The writer’s views are totally right. It is true that a country’s economic growth is directly linked to a decline in imports and an increase in exports. Undoubtedly, the housing sector cannot give the much-needed boost to the economy as it involves the import of raw materials to manufacture steel bars and other materials used in home construction.

The current price of steel – Rs160,000 per tonne – shows how much money the government will have to inject in this sector, It is unfortunate that the previous and existing governments did not focus on using the country’s high quality mineral resources to reduce its reliance on imports. The sitting government’s top priority should be industrialisation and the revamping of loss-making state-owned companies.

Engr Asim Nawab

Islamabad