Concern over impact of war on terror on national economy

23 Jun, 2009

Senate Standing Committee on Interior Chairman Senator Talha Mehmood has urged the Federal government to bring the ongoing war on terror to an immediate end as it has overburdened Pakistan under heavy foreign debts. "Every Pakistani is living under the burden of 591-dollar debt on his head while the wrong economic policies of the government are adding to the debt burden and worsening economy of the country," Senator Talha said while talking to reporters here on Monday.
He said that the volume of foreign loans on Pakistan had crossed the 50 billion-dollar mark, while the government was looking for more foreign loans to run the government affairs. The burden of foreign loans on Pakistan was six times more than the annual revenue target of the government and was a point of concern for every individual Pakistani, he said.
"It is a bitter reality that terrorism has destroyed our economy and even after having huge potential to emerge as strong economy, Pakistan is facing acute crisis," Talha said, adding that the government should revisit its policies and provide a true picture before the nation.
He said that Pakistan had a potential to resolve these issues by relying on own resources. "We have to address the law and order problems and resolve all outstanding issues through dialogue to give peace a chance and once these issues are resolved the economy will start to grow," he added.
He stressed the need for a comprehensive economic policy based on the country's own resources, saying that Pakistan was bestowed by Allah Almighty with huge potential of natural, water, mineral and human resources and once these treasures were exploited, Pakistan would emerge as a strong economy in the region.

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