DNA

KARACHI, SEPT 20 – Pakistan is mired in an unsustainable debt as billions are being borrowed without any justification, an FPCCI official said Sunday.

Horrible crimes have become the order of the day due to political interference in important departments which has unnerved masses and emerged as a challenge for the criminal justice system, said Dr. Murtaza Mughal, Convener FPCCI Central Standing Committee on Insurance.

In a statement issued here on Sunday, he said that new records are being set for loans while inefficiencies have resulted in political instability.

The former government borrowed a lot but they have a long list of development projects while the current dispensation has nothing to show, he added.

Dr Murtaza Mughal who is also President of Pakistan Economy Watch said that In 2019, total debt stood at 105.9 percent of the GDP as Pakistan’s total debt and liabilities surged to Rs44.5 trillion, equivalent to 106.8 percent of GDP till the end of June 2020.

During the last two years, an average person has become poorer as the economy contracted. The economy is not growing, therefore, unemployment is rising, he said, adding that millions more have become food insecure.

The currency devaluation has increased domestic inflation making local goods more expensive while it has not increased exports as claimed.

The policy of continued hike in electricity the tariff  and avoiding real reforms have made our power and gas energy more expensive than India, Bangladesh, Vietnam and other countries making production and exports costly.

The diversity of our goods sold is very limited, textiles and a few other things, and that’s all. So, we need to make it more export friendly. There are certain structural issues which need to be resolved, he said.