President Alvi assures businessmen of taking up issues

Says current account deficit is narrowing due to fall in imports, increase in exports

KARACHI: Pakistan's economy is going through historic difficulties and the present government has inherited twin deficits and circular debts, said President Arif Alvi.

During a meeting with the business officials, Alvi said that a huge chunk of revenue was being consumed to clear the debts, leaving limited resources for development work, however, the current account deficit has been narrowing due to fall in imports and rise in exports.

Alvi said that the remittances have been increasing while the foreign reserves of the country were also improving. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international donor agencies were closely monitoring all the initiatives and activities being made by the present government, he added. He said that the strategies devised by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) which have resulted in improving the number of taxpayers were also being monitored.

"It is being anticipated that the number of registered persons for sales tax will also rise in the days to come," he said, adding that owing to improvement in revenue generation in the last two months, they expect that the FBR and Ministry of Finance will not to go for any mini-budget or additional taxes to reduce deficit.

Appreciating the role of the business community in boosting the economy, the president assured the officials to urge the government to accommodate representatives of the business community in the policy making process in the larger interest of the country.

Speaking on the occasion, Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) former president AQ Khalil extensively discussed the overall economic scenario and the serious issues being faced by Karachi, including the local government issues, garbage disposal problems, and poor infrastructure of the city. The Rs162-billion package announced by the federal government for Karachi also came under discussion.

He also requested the president to hold a high-level meeting with K-Electric so that a proper code of conduct for the utility service provider could be finalised in consultation with all stakeholders, which would surely resolve many of the electricity related issues being suffered by Karachiites every day.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 14^th, 2019.

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