The lawmakers in Senate on Wednesday said that State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) report for 2016-17 on state of the country''s economy has badly exposed the tall claims of the government and painted a dismal picture of economy. Taking part in debate on annual report of SBP for 2016-17 on state of country''s economy, they said that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar who could not even sign his own cheque in the wake of graft cases against him, is once again knocking the door of International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout package.
Senator Sherry Rehman of PPP expressed displeasure the way government has been covering up impending crises in public finances and stated that staggering figures of $83 billion Pakistan''s external debt led by plummeting exports widened the inflow and outflow gap. She said the government is definitely going to the IMF for another bailout, adding, "We are losing $2 billion in foreign exchange reserves every year. Pakistan''s capacity to repay these debts and liabilities has weakened significantly."
Sherry said the country''s foreign debt obligations are now 162% of its annual earnings - the highest in decades. "In 2013, external debt and liabilities were equal to 192.3% of exports - in 4 years these have jumped to 304.6%. Why has the trade deficit been allowed to balloon?" she questioned. She said why textile exports have plummeted when fuel prices are much less, adding the oil price is 47 per barrel brent as compared to $147 per barrel of brent during the PPP government.
She said it is shocking to note that water intensity rate - used per unit of GDP - is the highest in the world. She said that climate change and water loss are causing severe economic and human stress on the country as there exists no water policy.
Senator Azam Swati of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) said that the heavy debts illustrate that ''the present slaves are not chained, they are in debt.'' She added, "We have been made salves through borrowing by respective regimes top of which is ruling PML-N."
Senator Shibli Faraz of PTI said that budget deficit is increasing alarmingly while the debt and liabilities were mounting which shows the present government did nothing to improve the fractured economy except making hollow claims. He regretted that Pakistan has slipped three places on the Word Bank''s Ease of Doing Business Index and is now ranked at 147th among 190 economies, shattering the government''s pro-business mantra.
"Exports have gone down while the imports are increasing, which is again a matter of shame for the government. The import issue can not be resolved by imposing regulatory duty. Nothing has been done for SME sector...all this shows the state of economy is in a shambles," he added. Senator Nasrin Jalil of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM) advised the government to pay attention to SBP report as it has rightly identified the areas where special efforts are needed.
She said the special page in SBP report about water issues in the country is commendable as the government is doing nothing to preserve water despite warning that the country may face seerious water issues by 2020. She said excessive borrowing would further destabilize the economy which is already facing serious challenges. She said that 3 million richest people identified by National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) must be brought under the tax net as soon as possible.
Senator Farhatullah Babar of PPP said that water scarcity and climate change as pointed out in the report call for adopting water policy for storage, quality, pricing and conservation of water in the country. He said that Pakistan had committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and proposed that the NFC Award be so fashioned to give incentives to the provinces for achieving SDG targets. "The provinces should also set up provincial financial commissions and link the award to regions and districts for the achievements of SDG targets by the local government," he said.
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