(March 03-2023)
Chairman of National Business Group Pakistan, President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum, and All Karachi Industrial Alliance, and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain on Friday said implementation of IMF conditions has brought chaos in the country.
The value of the dollar has increased tremendously, and the basic rate of interest has been increased from seventeen percent to twenty percent, which will be from 23 to 24 percent after the addition of bank’s profit, he said.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that businesses cannot operate after paying such a high-interest rate therefore many will be closed which will add to non-performing loans.
Talking to the business community, the veteran business leader said that the dollar has hit the mark of 290 rupees before coming down by ten rupees and it continues to fluctuate.
However, he said, an increase in the value of the dollar against the rupee will increase remittances, customs revenue, and exports.
He noted that the electricity price has been increased by R3.82 per unit, the price of gold has increased by nine and a half thousand rupees, the rate of sales tax on luxury goods has been increased to 25 percent and inflation is touching 35 percent.
In this whole game, while the people are losing money, the mafia is making billions of rupees overnight, he observed.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that the continuous delay in the agreement with the IMF is increasing the anxiety in the market and the comforting statements of the top officials are worsening the situation instead of improving it.
It is true that Pakistan has destroyed its reputation by constantly breaking promises to every creditor, including the IMF, but the international organization is also continuously tightening its conditions, which is disturbing.
In these circumstances, conspiracy theories about international organizations are growing which is not a good omen for the country’s economy.
The business leader said that conspiracies by some countries to harm Pakistan’s economy are not out of the question, but the so-called experts who believed that they can bank on friendly countries and ignore IMF were more to blame.
It may turn out to be wrong as the friendly countries have also refused to give loans without IMF supervision.
The country’s economy continued to nosedive due to wrong decisions and political instability. The reasonable demands of the IMF have been met, but according to some reports, some unreasonable demands are being made with an inflexible attitude, which is difficult to implement.
