Difficult for new govt to provide immediate relief to masses. A new IMF deal is imperative to settle the economic crisis. Nawaz Sharif can trigger development.

(February-02-2024)

Chairman of National Business Group Pakistan, President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum, and All Karachi Industrial Alliance, and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain said on Friday that it would be challenging for the new government to give the people quick relief owing to the scarcity of resources and IMF’s constraints. 

He said that, besides the existing IMF agreement, entering a new programme with the lender is necessary to resolve the economic crisis.

Mian Zahid Hussain said that the masses and the business community hope Nawaz Sharif can start a developmental path.

Talking to the business community, the veteran business leader said that it would take a lot of work for the political party coming to power to implement even half of its promises. 

In order for the new government to recover from the economic crisis, it will be necessary to obtain a long-term programme from the IMF and create the resources to implement the manifesto. 

To do this, the new government must sell loss-making public enterprises and discos and broaden the tax net. Otherwise, the country will go bankrupt. 

The business leader said that various politicians are busy assuring people that they will solve all their problems and start dozens of development projects.

He observed that claims are being made about reducing the record inflation and massive unemployment, ending the new wave of terrorism, and changing the country’s fate. 

Mian Zahid Hussain said that former prime minister Mian Nawaz Sharif’s popularity is increasing, and he will most likely become prime minister for the fourth time after the election. However, revolutionary change seems impossible under present circumstances. 

The country must submit to IMF discipline for long-term economic development. The IMF standby program is still pending, and the final loan installment is yet to be paid. In contrast, at least another three-year IMF program is necessary for the country’s survival. 

Mian Zahid Hussain said that almost all political leaders prioritize rural areas over urban areas in the upcoming elections as they believe that rural voters will play a key role in elections.

He further said that Nawaz Sharif rightly asked the people when he was removed from power in 2017, what was cost of a roti, what was the tariff of electricity, the rate of sugar price of a bag of fertilizer.  

He is also asking the public about the cause of moves that has brought the country to this state.