Pakistan Hardware Merchants Association (PHMA) has urged all the political forces in the country to save economy from an unmanageable decline.
The PHMA former Chairman and Director International Hardware Association Sardar Usman Ghani in a statement said that the economic meltdown is the biggest worry of the private sector and since the election process has already been put into motion therefore an early instalment of a new government through speedy completion transition would enable the country to have new economic policies. He said that a delay in transition could lead to further decline in the economic activities.
While citing the example of surge in dollar prices, Sardar Usman Ghani said that ongoing political uncertainty is not only giving birth to various types of rumours but also creating different challenges to the economy including depreciation of rupee.
He said that the depreciation of rupee is a serious problem as it eats up the export advantage and puts businessmen in extra trouble as a lot of raw material is presently being imported in the country. He said that to overcome the loss the government should take measures to increase remittances to relieve the pressure on the exchange rate. The documentation of remittances is vital to control the deprecation of rupees. Overseas Pakistanis must be encouraged to send their remittances through legal channels.
The Government must also take steps to fix the economy, by addressing the key issues of energy and law and order. If the government took revolutionary steps to address the energy issue by building new dams, the dollar could be brought back to Rs 60 parity. Producing electricity through local means could help decrease dependence upon imported oil which has been eating billions of rupees from public exchequer every year.