Businessmen hail Shahbaz as PM, hope for economic improvement

KARACHI/LAHORE: Businesspersons on Monday hailed the election of Shahbaz Sharif as Prime Minister of Pakistan and expressed hopes that the veteran businessman would stabilise the crumbling economy by dealing with rupee devaluation, rising debts, and taxation issues.

SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SAARC CCI), Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), and Businessmen Group congratulated Sharif for his success and pinned hopes on him for delivering on the economic front.

In separate statements, they pointed out the problems hurting the economy, and expressed hope that the new prime minister would take the economy in the right direction. They also assured of their full support in these matters.

LCCI President Mian Nauman Kabir, Senior Vice President Mian Rehman Aziz Chan and Vice President Haris Ateeq said the LCCI would add-on to the government efforts aimed at improving the economic well-being of the country. They said Sharif’s election was encouraging for the business community of Pakistan.

“The business community is optimistic that Shahbaz Sharif would live up to the expectations of the people of Pakistan in achieving national goals and under his leadership our beloved country will record tremendous achievements in its economy, democracy and foreign relations,” they said.

They hoped that Pakistan would emerge as a global leader in innovation, security, poverty alleviation and infrastructure development. They said that the new Prime Minister of Pakistan would have to evolve a strategy to remove all the impediments to economic growth. The LCCI hoped that its recently released proposals for the federal budget 2022-23 would become a part of the budget document.

Rupee devaluation, rising debts, taxation issues, miseries of the agriculture sector, below the mark growth of large scale manufacturing sector, high energy cost, bureaucratic hurdles and below the mark exports were the biggest barriers to economic growth.

The number of taxes and frequency of paying taxes should be reduced. Moreover, taxes should be paid quarterly instead of every month. “For that matter, all para tariffs must be merged in the main tariffs. Similarly, there should be electronic communication between taxpayers and tax departments. These proposals can make noticeable difference and win the confidence of taxpayers,” they added.

SAARC CCI President Iftikhar Ali Malik said the entire business community hopes that the widening trade deficit would be narrowed, and suggested that the only way to address this core issue was to offer another excellent package of incentives to boost the exports manifolds and improve ease of doing business for sustainable economic growth.

Malik hoped Sharif with his diverse experience as CM of the largest province and former president of the Lahore chamber would contribute towards economic development and do away with red-tape and de-regulations. He hoped that he would focus on tax reforms and promotion of tax culture in every sphere of life.

He said all stakeholders should be taken on board to make viable and prudent economic policies to accelerate growth and speed up industrialisation across the country. He said soon well-conceived balanced export-oriented charter of economy would be presented to him, which, if implemented, would usher an era of prosperity, progress and development besides improving the socioeconomic condition of the downtrodden.

BMG Chairman Zubair Motiwala, Vice Chairman Tahir Khaliq, Haroon Farooki, Anjum Nisar and Jawed Bilwani, General Secretary AQ Khalil, KCCI President KCCI Muhammad Idrees, Senior Vice President Abdul Rehman Naqi and Vice President Qazi Zahid Hussain hoped that Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif would now prioritise some of the urgent economic issues being faced by the country and pay special attention to the problems being suffered by the business and industrial community of Karachi since long. They also advised the PM to come up an effective mechanism to ensure that every single decision or policy which directly or indirectly affects trade and industry, was devised in consultation with the business and industrial community.

They urged the federal government to pay attention to issues of Karachi, particularly infrastructure, gas, electricity and water crises, as the city contributes more than 65 percent revenue to the national exchequer, more than 95 percent to the provincial kitty and 54 percent in terms of exports despite all odds.

They suggested that the PM should gather a team of economic experts, and reliable and honest members of the business community, to prudently guide the government in formulating numerous policies directly or indirectly affecting trade and industry.