KARACHI: Chairman of National Business Group Pakistan and President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF), Mian Zahid Hussain has said that the local and foreign companies are not getting the raw materials while the profits are also not being allowed to be sent abroad due to which they have stopped the new investment of billions of dollars.

Apart from non-availability of raw materials, issues like devaluation of currency, inflation, lack of dollars, reduced demand are also having devastating effects on businesses.

He noted that the people are getting restless and the country is sinking, but the elites are satisfied as they have transferred the looted wealth abroad and will flee the country as soon as the situation worsens.

All the models have failed to provide the country with sustainable socio-economic development, human security, justice, health, education and other facilities and will fail in the future.

He said many people are disappointed with the future of the country due to economic conditions. Mian Zahid Hussain said that import restrictions are causing a lot of damage to the economy.

He said that the ranking of the country is continuously falling and the people are not able to cope with the inflation.

He said that the growth rate for current year was estimated by the government to remain percent, but now according to the IMF it will be only half percent.

The IMF said that unemployment rate will increase from 6.2% to 7%, but according to local experts, the number of unemployed may increase by 800,000 people.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023