LAHORE: Deputy Chairman of the Board of Governors of Minhaj University Prof Dr Hussain Mohiuddin Qadri on Thursday said that according to the IMF, Pakistan currently needs seven billion dollars to avoid default.
He was speaking at the awareness session on Islamic economy and prevailing challenges to Pakistan at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry. LCCI President Kashif Anwar, Senior Vice President Chaudhry Zafar Mahmood and Vice President Adnan Khalid Butt also spoke on the occasion.
Hussain Mohiuddin Qadri said that in the next three years, Pakistan will have to repay $75 billion which does not seem to happen in any case. He said that Pakistan is one of the poorest countries in the world. There are two types of poverty ratio including lower middle income poverty ratio and middle income poverty ration.
He said that currently 39.3% of the people are included in the lower middle income ratio who earns US$3 on a daily basis. He said that people in the upper middle income poverty are earning US$5 per day. He said that if lower middle income and upper middle income people are combined, then about 78% of the population is earning less than Rs40000 per month while 22% segments earn more than Rs40000.
He said that according to the September 2021 report of the government, 22 percent of the people earning US$13 a month in Pakistan. The devastation caused by the recent floods has further increased this ratio. He said that India has lifted 415 million people out of poverty between the years 2006 to 2021. He said that according to Bangladesh’s National Poverty figures of 2016 and 2017, only 24 percent of people in the entire country were below the poverty line.
He added that every poor country is on the path of improvement and working to pull its population above the poverty line except Pakistan where people are getting poorer every year. He said that in the last three years, unemployment is continuously increasing in Pakistan. According to National public debt, Pakistan owed 54 trillion rupees till March 2022. According to the Economist, any country can borrow up to 60% of its GDP while Pakistan has borrowed 80% of its GDP. He feared that public debt of Pakistan will reach 138 billion dollars by the end of 2023.
He said that according to the Network Readiness Report, which compares technology; people, policy impact and other such factors, has analyzed 131 countries and ranked Pakistan 89th. It means that 88 countries are better than Pakistan in these factors.
He said that until ten years ago, the economic data of Pakistan was included in the list of South Asian countries. Whereas today Pakistan’s economic data is included in the list of poorest countries in Africa and so on. This is the progress we have made in the last several decades. He said that international surveys suggest that Pakistan’s general physical growth will be negative in the near future. While general inflation will increase by 23%. He said that Pakistan ranks 140th in the list of 180 countries in terms of corruption.
He said that exports have been continuously declining in the past several years, except for 2021. Similarly, imports have $52 billion in 2019 to $69 billion in 2021 due to which the trade deficit is continuously increasing. There is no way to reduce it. Compared to us, India-Bangladesh has seen an increase in exports.
He said that foreign investment has been declining in Pakistan for the past three years. The reason for this is the lack of ease of doing business in Pakistan. According to a survey of 190 countries, Pakistan is ranked 108th in ease of doing business, while India is ranked 63rd. Literacy rate in Pakistan is 62% which is higher than ours in all regional countries. There is a severe crisis of clean water in Pakistan for the last four years. Pollution is increasing day by day. According to an estimate, the gases coming out of the landfill sites of Lahore are creating pollution equal to several billion litres of diesel.
He said that Pakistan’s green areas are converted into construction areas. In the next several years, Pakistan is at risk of more devastating floods than the current ones due to deforestation. Pakistan is fourth in the list of defaulting countries in the world. The only solution would be for Pakistan to sell its assets. Islam says to go into debt when it becomes difficult for you to survive. Islamic Economics is the system of teachings of Holy Prophet (PBUH). Our Islamic banks also think that they have adopted Islamic economics, but this is not the case. Islamic economics is the name of changing the business system. Islamic economics is all about striking a balance between limited resources and limited wants.
He said that if we had reduced our expenses today and had reduced the expenses in the 90s, our resources would have increased and we would not have faced the problems created by just fulfilling our desires.
LCCI President Kashif Anwar said that today the economy is going towards decline day by day. We have not been able to get rid of the system of interest till date. Unemployment in the country is at its peak. People are not getting jobs.
He said that more than 8000 containers are stuck at the ports. Although we are an agricultural country, we have to import cotton bales because we have converted our green areas into housing societies. Water is a huge problem in Pakistan. Either we don’t have water or there is a flood. Because we did not build dams and water reservoirs and we wasted this white gold. There should not be hopelessness, but the best is not in sight.
LCCI President Kashif Anwar said that Islam is a complete code of life and provides complete guidance and a plan of action in every sphere and every aspect of life. He said that the problems and difficulties that our country’s economy is currently facing, if we promote Islamic teachings and Islamic livelihood system, the country will only come out of these challenges but can also emerge as a model economy in the world. He added that our beloved country has all the resources and blessings that can make it a great economic power. The only requirement is to determine the right direction.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023