KARACHI: Chairman of National Business Group of FPCCI, President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum, and All Karachi Industrial Alliance, and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain on Wednesday said the decision of Prime Minister Imran Khan to boost the agriculture sector was laudable.
The business community fully supports PM’s move to remove impediments in the agriculture sector that keep it away from development since a decade, he said in a statement on Wednesday. Hussain said that the falling agriculture sector had resulted in a hike in the price of pulses, sugar, flour, cotton and other items resulting in shortages and double-digit inflation which could be resolved through short and long-term policies based on ground realities.
Talking to the business community, the veteran business leader said that prospects of improved growth are bright despite pandemic and country will beat forecasts of international institutions if the central bank continued to play a positive role. The government should resolve the GSP Plus issue employing proper diplomatic initiatives while using foreign policy properly otherwise exports can be compromised by three billion dollars, he added.
The construction sector and manufacturing sectors were performing well despite challenges while LSM growth was on the positive side and situation would further improve as new Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin wanted development amid stability, said.
Hussain wanted to boost exports, expand tax net, ensure price stability, reduce poverty, and cut circular debt which would result in positive developments. The government should reduce borrowing to ensure repaid development as it would strengthen the private sector while the SBP should reduce interest rates as a two percent hike in the policy rate would burden masses and the business community and hinder new investments, he warned.