By Anzal Amin
ISLAMABAD: Former President of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) Dr. Shahid Rasheed Butt on Friday said the previous government increased imports more than exports which weakened the local currency and eroded the foreign exchange reserves.
Exchange rate erosion expanded poverty and misery in the country making life difficult for the man on the street, he said.
Shahid Rasheed Butt said that a weakened rupee boosted exports by 24.8 percent from July 2021 to March 2022 but it made the life of an average person a living hell.
The exports increased but imported outweighed the achievement which increased by 39.9 percent to over 62 billion dollars eating up forex reserves; he informed.
The business leader said that no meaningful action was taken to contain the import of luxuries. The exports to China jumped from 1.21 billion dollars to 3.28 billion dollars, but imports jumped by 3.28 billion dollars to 13.3 billion dollars which was unsustainable.
Mr. Butt noted that economic misgovernance peaked during the PTI regime, public debt jumped to 42.8 trillion, Pakistan’s exports were over 13 percent of the GDP in 2013, which fell to 10 percent while the global average remains 25.5 percent.
He said that Pakistan has no other option to boost exports discounting failed strategies and hefty subsidies to the club of billionaires to revive the economy which is in a deep mess.
Government should try to undo the damage left behind by Imran Khan by finding new markets, strengthen its position in oil markets, promote value addition, improve the quality of products, touch up marketing and give priority to manufacturing.
