The Apex Committee, while deciding to put the house in order, has opted for some drastic cut-throat measures. They primarily concern rectifying the beleaguered economy, and ensuring that dispensable accounts are taken care of that are a burden on the exchequer. The high-powered body also gave green signal to prioritise the pending privatisation process and restructure all those industrial units that are viable. The intention is to do away with cash-bleeding entities that incur trillions in losses per annum, and are good for nothing at the end of the day. The body was emboldened with the recent successes against hoarders and black-marketers, which is gradually receding adverse impact on inflation, and at the same time led to holding back the flight of the dollar against the rupee.
The Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) is seized with a gigantic task of pulling the degenerated economy back to its hooks. This is why it is eyeing smart investment from home and abroad, and has addressed the catalyst of non-confidence of businessmen by streamlining a one-window operation free from bureaucratic lethargy and red-tapism. The government’s efforts have luckily coincided with the Free Trade Agreement with six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, which is likely to see a preferential mode of business activity buoying exports to its maximum. Likewise, the decision to hand over the power distribution companies to the private sector through ‘long-term concessions’ and manage load-shedding during winter are other steps that are worth-mentioning in an exercise of fixing the economy.
It’s time to stick to the decisions. Foreign and domestic investors admire consistency in policy, and that can only come through the input of institutions on a sound rational basis. Similarly, political stability is the way to ensure economic dividends in real time. The initiative seen in the form of shunting illegal immigrants, closing of borders for illicit trade, especially with Afghanistan that leads to Rs1 trillion loss annually, and penalising officials for corrupt practices are inevitable steps.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 6th, 2023.
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