SDPI proposes to form economic security council

ISLAMABAD: The Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) has proposed to form a national economic security council on the lines of the National Security Council (NSC) to cater to growing economic complexities.

The proposed council should agree on a five years economic road map on debt sustainability, energy circular debt management, reform of state-owned enterprises, and resource mobilization, the think tank stated on Friday.

SDPI suggested forming an economic council under NSC comprising the government, leaders of the opposition in the Parliament (National Assembly and Senate), all four chief ministers and the representatives from top military brass.

Such a roadmap developed through a consensus should be binding for all political parties and they should agree not to oppose those damage control measures just for the sake of opposition, it added.

“We have witnessed that the previous government and the incumbent government had to go to IMF for a bailout and the forthcoming government would also do the same as the state of the economy is worsening day by day,” the institute said.

Floating the proposal on behalf of SDPI, Abid Qaiyum Suleri, its executive director, elaborated that the current economic crisis could not be handled unless all political parties in the parliament and key stakeholders join hands to steer the country out of the ever-growing socio-economic quagmire.

“In the charged political environment, no political leadership representing one side of the divide, or the other side, alone could succeed in taking the country forward.”

He was of the view that the previous joint opposition’s anti-price hike movement against the then government was not a correct step as they knew the causes of the price hike. “Similarly, the incumbent opposition’s call against the present coalition government on a similar issue is also equally not appropriate.” SDPI urged all stakeholders to keep facing tough conditionalities till a consensus was made on sustainable economic policies across the political divide.