By Asad Cheema
ISLAMABAD: President Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) Dr. Murtaza Mughal has said that some influential western countries are hindering the growth of Pakistan and they do not miss any opportunity to damage our economy.
In a statement issued here on Sunday, he said that Pakistan depends on the West for its survival, therefore challenging it without being self-sufficient is tantamount to economic suicide. Dr. Murtaza Mughal said that Pakistan buys 60 percent of its defence equipment from China while 40 percent of its arms and ammunitions are purchased from western countries.
He said that western military hardware will be useless if the supply of spare parts is stopped by the producers who have never transferred technology.
The President PEW said that sixteen percent of Pakistan’s exports go to the United States, six percent to China and one percent to Russia. The largest volume of goods is exported to the European Union, which accounts for 35 percent of our total exports.
Exports to Europe exceeded total exports to the US and China while last month the US, UK, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy topped Pakistan’s exports, he informed.
Therefore, he said, Pakistan should be careful while challenging the west on issues that are not directly linked to our interests, he added. Dr. Mughal said that Pakistan needs continuous borrowing from IMF, World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Western countries for survival and their loans are always cheaper than loans taken from the friendly countries.
Likewise, FATF is also a Western institution that is in a position to cause great harm by blacklisting us, so it is not wise to confront them at this juncture, he observed.
The President PEW said that Pakistan should tackle lack of productivity, conflicting economic policies, insufficient tax collection, weak infrastructure and other issues to become a developed nation before challenging developed nations for political mileage.
Pakistan is running out of time for reforms as no government has attempted to bring all political forces on one page for economic policies. The priority of those in power has always been to waste resources to benefit and facilitate their supporters and allies.
