KARACHI: Chairman of the FPCCI Advisory Board and National Business Group Pakistan, the President of the Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum Mian Zahid Hussain said that “to get out of the current difficult situation, it is necessary to promote industrialization, for which business-friendly policies should be made with the support of FPCCI, business costs should be brought down, and markup should be reduced by four percent.”

He said the IMF had not come to Pakistan itself but had been invited, adding that Pakistan had no option but to enter the IMF programme to avoid looming bankruptcy.

Mian Zahid Hussain said that negative remarks by some personalities against the lender are a sure way to economic suicide; therefore, they should be stopped from issuing such damaging statements.

He said the public and the business community were worried about the delay in the IMF programme, which had slowly started negatively affecting the economy.

“Under these circumstances, the negative attitude of important officials is equivalent to setting fire to the country, which does a great disservice.”

He said that some elements were trying to obstruct the agreement between IMF and Pakistan, and the government should stop them.

Mian Zahid Hussain said the IMF had objected to the central government and Punjab giving relief to the people in terms of electricity bills. The lender also fears that Pakistan would use the IMF capital to pay off Chinese debts, which is unacceptable to it.

The IMF had imposed a similar condition on Sri Lanka after its bankruptcy, so this is nothing new.

Mian Zahid Hussain said the international organization wanted Pakistan to be given a loan when it rolls over 12 billion dollars from China, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, filling the gap of two billion dollars in foreign financing.

However, these countries are unwilling to roll over their debt, creating problems for Pakistan.

Mian Zahid Hussain said the uncertainty about the IMF loan affected the market, so the government should take the people into confidence, explain the situation, and take steps to prevent the problem from worsening.

He said the staff-level agreement with the IMF was made in July, but the failure to roll over the loans and the measures to subsidize the electricity bills have worsened the situation.

The government has yet to be able to take the IMF into confidence, even regarding the electricity subsidy, which has added to the problems.

“Central and provincial governments have clarified that subsidies for electricity bills are being given to the people by reducing the development budget, which is also unacceptable to international organizations.”

Mian Zahid Hussain further said that irresponsible rhetoric had also been used against the international organization in the past, which would have brought fame to some politicians.

However, it has caused a lot of damage to Pakistan, and they are still making the IMF a target for criticism, which is condemnable.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024