Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) lauded the government for approving three years budgetary framework and termed it a wise move which will go a long way in strengthening the economy.

Karim Aziz Malik & Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, Vice Presidents and Executive Members of ICCI in a combined statement said that they have been advocating since long for long term economic policies including budgetary framework spanning over a period of 5 or even 10 years and felt satisfied that at last government has taken another right step in that direction after trade policy.

They said Medium Term Budgetary Framework (MTBF) will prove beneficial to trade and industry and the economy at large as it will provide a long term direction to entrepreneurs and investors and will give them enough time to envisage 3-years targets and make comprehensive business plans for future growth of their businesses.

ICCI office bearers said that this arrangement will also release lot of pressure on budget making machinery of the government as the concerned departments will be spared of the exercise of making yearly budgets. Instead with the availability of 3-years long period, they will be able to set right priorities for the economy.

Karim Aziz Malik said that energy shortage has created many new challenges for industrial and other sectors of the economy directly affecting productivity, exports, employment and tax revenue. He stressed that government should also come up with a long term energy policy to provide a clear direction to business community so that businessmen could re-set their growth strategies.

He said country is experiencing almost 50 percent decline in foreign investment and hoped that introduction of MTBF from the next fiscal year will pave way for attracting more investment in the country, which will help in narrowing down trade and fiscal deficit of the country.

Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari said government should not feel complacent with the introduction of MTBF as proper implementation of this structure is the key to achieve the desired result. Therefore, all efforts should be made to implement the Medium Term Budgetary Framework in its true letter and spirit to give benefit to the overall economy.