Traders urge govt to prioritise sustained growth

Say political sovereignty is directly linked with economic development

ISLAMABAD/FAISALABAD:

Sustained economic growth should be the top priority of the government and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif should achieve this objective by translating his idea of the charter of economy into practical terms, said Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) President Atif Munir Sheikh.

Speaking to APP on Thursday, Sheikh stated that “our politicians have realised the fact that Pakistan’s political sovereignty is directly linked with the economic development”

He regretted that the political turmoil had severely affected the economic activities and its ultimate victims were Pakistan and its people.

“During the previous governments, we could not implement the charter of the economy due to political differences and therefore, exports faced a major setback, particularly during the repeated political regime changes in the country,” said Sheikh.

The FCCI president was relieved that prime minister was now in a position to take constitutional, legal and administrative measures to save the economy from political uncertainty which remained a regular phenomenon and threat to businesses.

“Exports of the country are hinged on multinational agreements between different parties,” he said. “If an export order gets diverted to some other country, then we have to wait for many years to win it back”.

Politics should be treated as a separate subject from the economy, he added pointing out the concerted efforts were needed to save the economy from the ill impacts of the recent political unrest.

Welcoming the idea of Pakistan Economic Advisory Council, he hoped that due representation would be given to the leading chambers so that they could give their positive and productive input to prop up economic growth of the country.

Separately in a session with large-scale merchants from Pakistan Chemical and Dyes Merchants Association on Thursday, FPCCI President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh expressed his concern over the lack of facilitation and fair environment for the distributors and merchants of industrial raw materials.

“It plays an indispensable role in export growth and import substitution,” he added.

Sheikh suggested that chemical merchants should be brought into a normal tax regime instead of being in the minimum tax regime.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 15^th, 2022.

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