The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry said that IMF Executive Board has approved $6 billion loan for Pakistan that was a positive development as it would pave way for the country to obtain financial support from many other international financial institutions for improving its economy. However, it called upon the government to use IMF loan for achieving sustainable development of the economy and evolve a new strategy to rid the country of foreign debts as Pakistan would never be able to achieve long-term economic growth without getting rid of debts burden.
Ahmed Hassan Moughal President, Rafat Farid Senior Vice President and Iftikhar Anwar Sethi Vice President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry said that Pakistan has so far taken 22 loans from IMF since 1958, but these loans have provided only short-term support to our economy and Pakistan could not utilize them for putting the country on the path of sustainable economic development. They said that the approach of resorting to foreign debts for running the country has plunged Pakistan into z serious debt trap as by end of March 2019, the total debt and liabilities of Pakistan have exceeded Rs.35 trillion. They were of the view that despite accumulating so much debt and liabilities, the economy of Pakistan was still struggling that was very unfortunate.
Ahmed Hassan Moughal said that PTI government during its short tenure has also piled up debt burden of Rs.6 trillion, but could not steer the economy out of troubled waters. He said that debt servicing was consuming bulk portion of our annual budget due to which insufficient funds were left for social and economic development. He urged that government should make a new strategy to generate indigenous resources for running the affairs of the country and to enable it to stand on its own feet.
ICCI President said that the best way of getting rid of foreign debts was to create a conducive environment for the growth of business activities and exports. However, he said that PTI Government in its first annual budget has abolished zero rated facility for export-oriented industry and imposed many taxes on the business class due to which promoting business activities and exports has become more difficult. He urged that government should restore zero-rated facility for export-oriented industry at least for one year and withdraw taxes on businesses to facilitate promotion of exports and improve the economy that would ultimately lead to getting rid of foreign debts.