Industrialists advocate independent policies

Suggest forming committees to tap sector potential.

LAHORE:


The Pakistan Industrial and Traders Associations Front (PIAF) has stressed the need for adopting independent economic policies in the interest of the country.


According to a statement on Wednesday, PIAF Chairman Sohail Lashari said, “Foreign dictates are pushing the country to the wall; therefore, it will be wiser on the part of the government if it takes decisions keeping in view the ground realities.”

He said the country was enriched with mineral resources worth trillions of dollars, which he believes are enough to come out of the economic mire, and asked the government to utilise these resources to make progress.


Lashari explained that Pakistan was in dire need of independent policies, as it is a proven fact that countries engaged with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or the World Bank fail to taste progress and prosperity.

He urged the government to evolve an economic strategy in consultation with stakeholders, including the private sector, so that economic activities could be expedited. “The private sector has both the will and the ability to end economic turmoil,” said Lashari.

He suggested constituting committees for sectors including textile, leather, engineering and agriculture to tap their potential, adding that the government should remove bottlenecks in the way of economic activities and arrest the fast declining industrial growth.

He added that the federal and provincial governments should tighten their belt, with a view to putting the economy on track, as a growing gap between revenue and expenditure was increasing the vulnerability of the fiscal framework.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10th, 2011.
Load Next Story