In a meeting with bed linen exporters, the former minister, Humayun Akhtar Khan, said the interest rates have been cut globally to encourage businesses while in Pakistan, the situation is exactly otherwise.
“The economy is sustaining on the IMF loans and the government is blindly following its dictations,” he said. Akhtar said that the foreign direct investment (FDI) must be channelised into export-based industries, not just in telecom and power sectors, to strengthen the economy.
He said the FDI hit a record high of $8 billion during the previous rule while it has dropped by 50 percent in the current regime.
“The national economy is struggling hard and the business community is going through difficult times because of poor and complicated tax system,” Akhtar added.
Despite making business-friendly policies, the government started borrowing from commercial banks to fulfill their expenses, while the commercial banks should give loans to the private sector so that the sector would grow more and help reduce runaway unemployment by generating jobs in the country, he said.
Talking about the recent hike in commodity prices, he said the wheat flour in his government was selling at Rs425 per maund against Rs950 today. “Ten percent rise in wheat flour pushes up three percent of inflation,” he added.
He urged the government to improve the tax mechanism by taking a number of steps, including elimination of corruption and amendment to the tax rules and regulations.
Representing the business community, Shabbir Ahmed, former chairman Bedwear Manufacturers Association, appreciated the minister on his previous role.
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