Former federal finance minister Dr Miftah Ismail has called for undertaking bold reforms to benefit people and businesses and warned that Pakistan's current system is holding back progress.
He highlighted high inflation, rising unemployment, heavy taxation and costly energy as major obstacles to growth and public welfare, urging immediate action to restore stability and competitiveness.
He was speaking at the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan (ICMA) Thought Leadership Lecture Series. The session also featured the launch of a report titled "Pakistan's Cement Sector: Growth, Performance and Company-to-Company Analysis 2018-2024".
Outlining Pakistan's economic challenges, Miftah Ismail noted that per capita GDP lags behind regional peers, fiscal deficit is widening and public welfare is eroding. He stressed that while the effective tax rate approaches 40%, Pakistan lacks comparable welfare services. Energy costs further disadvantage the domestic industry as electricity production is nearly 20% cheaper in Bangladesh.
He also highlighted weaknesses in law and order and pointed out that bureaucratic delays and costs of filing FIRs erode trust in the justice system. The education crisis, he said, is Pakistan's most alarming challenge as nearly 40% of children aged 5-16 – about 400,000 in Punjab and 1.7 million in Sindh – are out of school, while literacy rates in K-P are declining.
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