(August-23-2024)
The Chairman of the FPCCI Advisory Board and National Business Group Pakistan, President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum, and All Karachi Industrial Alliance, as well as former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain, said on Friday that the government’s decision to reduce expenditure is worthy of appreciation.
A reduction in government expenditure is important to revive the country’s economy; without it, economic development is impossible, he said.
Mian Zahid Hussain stated that the people’s condition is deteriorating due to the continuous increase in taxes, but the government’s income is not improving because its expenses are continuously increasing.
Talking to the business community, the veteran business leader said that the continuous increase in expenditure is not only happening in the current government, but it has been going on for the last several decades, and no government has tried to reduce the expense.
Instead, all governments have increased their dependence on loans, causing the country to reach the bankruptcy threshold.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that it is possible to reduce people’s problems only by reducing expenses, as it will produce other positive results.
He said that the PM had announced the elimination of one and a half lakh posts, the impending closure of several institutions or their mergers, and the imposition of a ban on new recruitments.
On the one hand, it has been decided to close the National Information Technology Board; on the other hand, it has been decided to speed up the process of privatisation of institutions, which is welcome because the failed institutions are causing a loss of trillions of rupees to the country every year.
According to Mian Zahid Hussain, the Prime Minister has decided to increase the Gwadar port’s activity and suggested that the port should handle half of the cargo, thereby alleviating the pressure on the Karachi port.
The PM has also announced necessary steps, setting a target of fifty billion dollars for IT exports.
The business leader stated that due to a shortage of employees and institutions, there is a pressing need to reduce the size of the cabinet, which is significantly larger than that of developed countries, thereby wasting billions of rupees.
He advocated for the withdrawal of free electricity, gas, and telephone facilities for government officials, the reduction of other privileges, and a reminder to the ministers that they are the representatives and servants of the people, not the rulers.
He further stated that if the government is slow to reduce its expenses and if the provinces do not cooperate, the economy and people’s condition will continue to deteriorate.
Commoners, experts, and companies will continue to leave the country, and under no circumstances will the flow of capital cease.
As a result of the increase in inflation and poverty, unrest will increase, and no foreign company will be ready to invest in Pakistan, so the central and provincial governments should try their best to reduce their expenses to improve the overall situation, he demanded.
