(October 14, 2019)
President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF), President All Karachi Industrial Alliance (AKIA), Senior Vice Chairman of the Businessmen Panel of FPCCI and former provincial minister, Mian Zahid Hussain on Monday said the economy is far from satisfactory despite the best efforts by the government. The economy is going down at a rapid pace while inflation has bewildered the masses, he said.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that masses do not need statistics regarding impressive gains but the food which is their basic right.
Talking to the business community, the veteran business leader said that masses are being told that the economy is getting better, the industry has picked up again, confidence has returned, trade and fiscal deficit has been contained, stock market and the currency have been stabilized while tax net and revenue has increased. However, economic managers have maintained silence over exports and any relief provided to the masses reeling under merciless price hike.
The former minister noted that the situation is different on the ground; over 300 factories have been closed in Peshawar only while thousands of units have been closed in Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad and other cities leaving millions
Those who are supposed to run the economy have taken to the streets, cotton has been damaged by 33 percent pushing the textile industry into crisis, sugar exports are down by 54 percent, large scale manufacturing is sliding, SMEs are laying off workers and services sector is on way to termination.
He said that markets are deserted and a shop fetching fifty thousand in monthly rent is now available for fifteen thousand but no one is ready to take it. Edibles, necessities, transport, CNG, and everything is now out of the reach of masses who are sacrificing everything for stability but to no avail.
