Government is actively considering a proposal to clear pending refund claims of exporters by issuing monthly post-dated cheques which would be trade able in the market, said State Minister for Finance Rana Muhammad Afzal Khan. Addressing the FCCI members here Saturday, he said that under this proposal Rs 137 billion pending claims could be finally settled in addition to the payment of Rs 11-12 billion existing claims. He said that the ultimate objective of this proposal is to enhance export by resolving the issue of liquidity crunch faced by the exporters.
He said that present government has limited time but we are working simultaneously on reducing cost of doing business and promoting ease of business. Regarding cost of doing business he said that efforts have been expedited to further cut down the cost of electricity. He said that the coal fired power houses are generating electricity at 5.9 cent while it cost is 6 cent through gas fired power houses.
State Minister said that in the month of March, first phase of Neelum Jhelum hydro electric power project will be completed. In this connection 51 kilometer long tunnel is passing through an experimental phase and with its commissioning the energy mix will become cheaper. He said that government has decided to transfer the full benefit of this decrease to the industry in order to generate new jobs and enhance national exports.
He told that the electricity was earlier supplied at Rs 17 per unit which has trimmed to Rs 12 while now it is available at Rs 11. He was hopeful that government will succeed in bringing it further down to Rs 8 only.
Rana Afzal said that Pakistan is subjected to economic pressure but politically elected government is fully prepared to face it in best national interest. However the business community must contribute its role by promoting substitutes of our imports locally. Pakistani businessmen are opening LCs worth 50 billion dollars. It means that they have sufficient resource in rupee but we need dollars to make our foreign purchases. He said that our economy is enjoying sound financial creditability as despite of many upheavals Pakistan was never declared defaulter. He said that research wing of FCCI should clearly identify the unnecessary imports so that concerted steps could be taken to reduce imports through local substitution.
Continuing, Rana Afzal said that the difference in imports and exports during September was 51 percent. It was reduced to 36 percent in October and further trimmed to 11 percent in the month of November. He said that it is our national responsibility to discourage unnecessary imports in addition to enhancing exports. He told that we need 14 million bales of cotton. Regarding large scale manufacturing sector, he said that its growth rate is 9 percent. Similarly it is 10 to 11 percent in case of services sector. Yet 2.5 percent growth is expected in agriculture sector which will help us to achieve the overall GDP growth of 6 percent. He said that this government intends to handover powers to the interim setup with reserves which should be sufficient to meet the needs of 2 to 3 months. He was optimistic that next government would also be formed by his party. He said that we want to take the country at take off position.
He said that 7 years ago no one was ready to purchase plots in M-3 Industrial Estate but today there is a long queue of intending purchasers of industrial plots. It is in this regard that FIEDMC is considering starting second phase of this Industrial Estate. He said that 40-50 industrial units are under construction in M-3 Industrial Estate which is indicative of industrialization trend in Pakistan.