KARACHI: Former federal minister for finance and economic affairs Dr Hafeez Pasha has doubted the feasibility of Rs1.1-trillion Karachi Transformation Package as, according to him, the federal government will have to divert one-third of its development budget towards Karachi while the Sindh government is bound to spend half of its development budget in Karachi during the next three years.
He was speaking at a seminar titled "Economic Revival of Karachi -- The Way Forward", organized by the Karachi Citizens Forum at the auditorium of the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) here on Friday.
"The federal government will contribute 60 percent while Sindh government's share will be 40 percent in Karachi's Rs1100 billion package," he said, maintaining that both the governments had to divert their development budgets on a massive scale for the next three years which was unfeasible.
He asked the Karachiites to fight for their own rights as Karachi generated 46 percent of the total revenue of the country.
"Karachi accounts for 25 percent of total manufacturing in the country while the city contributes 50 percent in total exports," he added.
Dr Pasha said Karachi's GDP was half of the total GDP of Sri Lanka, and the city needed enormous investments like the ones it saw in the 1970s and then from 2001 to 2008.
From 2001 to 2008, the city witnessed the fastest growth when per capita income rose by 4.5 percent, and the city's economy grew by 8 percent, he said. He advised the Sindh government to allow the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) to collect taxes on immovable property for the development of the city.
"Karachi can collect Rs25 billion under the urban immovable property tax," he said. He also proposed floating of accredited municipal bonds to be underwritten by the private sector for the economic development of the city.
Dr Pasha urged the Sindh government to announce provincial finance commission award and the city should be given its due share in it.
KCF convener Nargis Rehman said the Rs1.1 trillion Karachi transformation package should be properly executed. The Vice President of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), Shaikh Sultan Rehman, and the President of SITE Association, Abdul Hadi, also addressed the seminar.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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