President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF) Mian Zahid Hussain has said that an increase of 102 percent in the current account deficit is not acceptable therefore he asked the government to take steps to contain widening current account deficit. Last year's current account deficit stood at 3.3 billion dollars while the deficit for the current year might hit the mark of nine billion dollars, he said. Mian Zahid Hussain said the current account deficit for January had been recorded at 1,189 billion dollars while it was 590 million dollars in the same period of 2016.
He said exports of all major items including textiles continued to fall while imports were growing; the transport sector imports grew by 142 percent. He demanded that rising cost of imports and imported oil, sluggish exports, declining FDI and reduced remittances sent by overseas Pakistanis must be considered. Mian Zahid Hussain said foreign direct investment had almost dried leaving authorities with no option but to rely on foreign loans and issue sovereign bonds. President PBIF Mian Zahid Hussain said that more and more foreign companies, popular international brands and retailers were moving to Pakistan. "United Kingdom's retailer TESCO, the third-largest company in the world, will soon land in Pakistan which is a positive sign," he added.