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Thursday March 28, 2024

Jang Economic Session: Growth of local industries key to economic stability

By Our Correspondent
August 07, 2022

LAHORE : The dream of economic independence in Pakistan is possible with political stability and social and economic justice in the country. Many reforms need to be done to balance imports and exports. For this, there is need to ban the unnecessary imports for at least 5 to 6 years and encourage the local industries to produced import substituted items.

These views were expressed by the discussants in Jang Economic Session on ‘When and how the dream of economic independence can be fulfilled”. The panelists were Prof Bashrat-Ullah-Malik, Ali Ashraf, Faheem Saigoal, Khalid Ch and Shahzia Sulman while moderated by Sikindar Lodhi.

Prof Bashrat-Ullah-Malik said that problems identified easily but no one tell the solutions while the economic situation is very critical. The trade deficit is USD 35 billion. There is need to create trade balance by imposing ban on vehicles and mobile phones for three years which reduced 4-5 billion dollars import bill annually. The exports of agriculture produced and other item by utilizing the natural resources which can improve the economic situation, he suggested.

Faheem Saigoal said the independence was possible with passion. There is need to make decision what to do. War between Russia and Ukraine, the rise of the dollar and inflation are all happening globally. It is important to involve all chambers and stakeholders in policymaking, and long-term, policies should be made which will not change with change of governments. Globally SME sector plays an important role in the development of the country and Pakistan should work on it.

Ali Ashraf said independence could not be possible without economic stability while political and social independence is possible only with the establishment of a stable government. He suggested focusing on information technology and its services exports. It is difficult to gather all political parties on one platform, but we should think out of the box and all our foreign policies need to be revised. The economic stability is possible when Pakistan proves the world that it is now standing on its own feet and will not go to anyone for loans again.

Khalid Ch said the economic decisions should not be made blindly. The economic zone should not be banned. The overseas Pakistanis are supporting their family are sending remittances while no other is investing in Pakistan. There is a need of investors in the country and there should be no restriction of areas and other such restrictions for setting up industries. The political stability is vital for overseas Pakistanis investment in Pakistan. Therefore, until there is political stability in Pakistan, economic independence is only a dream.

Shahzia Sulman said Pakistan never estimated its expenses as increase in income is needed when the expenses are higher than income to create a balance between income and expenses. The economic independence can come with this balance. The government should be focused on labor class and impart the IT and technical skills among them. Thus, they would be able to play their role in the country's economy. Further, the role of the SME’s should be increased for the improvement of the economy and to reduce the trade deficit. The chambers and stakeholders should be included in the policy making.