By Asad Cheema
ISLAMABAD: Former President of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) Dr. Shahid Rasheed Butt on Friday said instability in Afghanistan could hit Pakistan exports and foreign direct investment (FDI).
Almost seventy-five percent of Afghanistan’s budget consisted of foreign aid for the last two decades that will be not an option now as the countries that lost war are settling score through economic measures, he said.
Shahid Rasheed Butt said that the attitude of influential countries would put the region on fire resulting in unresolvable problems. He noted that the international community is not in a mood to give a chance to Taliban to walk their talk and they have started squeezing them.
On the other hand, he said, Pakistani exporters are not performing as expected while the foreign direct investment is going down rapidly while the situation in Afghanistan may shrink our economy.
He said that trade deficit has surged to 3.058 billion dollars in July due to an almost double increase in exports, as compared to exports; the deficit was 1.686 billion dollars over the corresponding month last year.
Foreign investors have serious reservations over the way they are dealt by different departments and nothing has been done to address their concerns, he added.
The business leader noted that over the last four years the foreign direct investment is receding while outflows are gaining momentum which should worry the policymakers as this trend is damaging for the economy.
