(July 10, 2020)
President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum and All Karachi Industrial Alliance, FPCCI’s Businessmen Panel Sr. Vice Chairman, and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain on Friday said the increased focus on debt reduction and revenue generation has damaged the economy.
Coronavirus and subsequent lockdowns have damaged all the economies but authorities are more interested in fixing unachievable tax targets which will further grind down economy, he said.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that India, Bangladesh, Nepal and many other regional countries are facing debt problem since decades but their governments have not mismanaged the problem.
Talking to the business community, the veteran business leader said that regional countries are dealing with debt and current account deficit in a better way which is evident from their economic success.
The former minister noted that during the last 32 years Pakistan has approached IMF for 13 times to avoid bankruptcy, Sri Lana has borrowed for six times, Bangladesh has taken IMF loan four times while India has sought IMF money only for one time which proves that their economic management is better than Pakistan.
The regional countries have used IMF money for development which helped them transform their countries as economic powerhouses while we have wasted the borrowed money.
Not only regional economies but developed national like the US and the UK are also facing deficit problems but it has not unnerved their governments and economic managers to damage their own economy.
He said that the government should not panic about deficits, it should reduce tax collection targets and provide enabling environment to investors who can put the economy back on track and making Pakistan a developed nation.
