Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday said that Pakistan was still “a cheaper country” when comparing petroleum products’ prices in India and with others in the region.
Addressing an inaugural ceremony of 14th International Chambers Summit 2022 arranged by the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI), Imran underlined that exports and tax collection were the two main driving agents to boost the country’s economy, and the present government was fully focused on them.
The summit was being attended by presidents of more than 54 regular chambers, 10 small chambers and 13 women chambers, besides representatives from development partners, international business community, political parties, ministries and government institutions. The summit will provide an opportunity to the businessmen to seek resolution of their issues, besides presentation of solid proposals to the stakeholders for the formulation of a business-friendly policy for the country.
Speaking on the occasion, Imran said the government was making strenuous efforts to remove all hurdles and bottlenecks faced by exporters, investors and businessmen, and give a spur to the exports industry.
Imran Khan said in the past, no attention was paid to those sectors of the economy which were vital for wealth creation. The exports sector was stagnant in the past, but the incumbent government was providing all facilitation to the exporters, he added, stressing that the exporters should be encouraged with awards and other incentives. He observed that if the country’s exports were not increased, it could again put pressure on the current account and currency.
The prime minister said the government was constantly endeavouring to introduce incentives for ease of doing business and to remove all bottlenecks, which would help increase the businessmen’s profits and develop a tax culture.
He also termed the introduction of the mini-budget an effort to document the economy. Out of the total estimated Rs11 trillion retail market, only Rs3 trillion market was registered, he said, adding that the government was also working on full tax automation.
The prime minister said, “No government in Pakistan ever faced such big challenges like the fiscal and current account deficits. If our friends, Saudi Arabia and China, had not helped us, we would have defaulted due to our liabilities. We had no reserves to stem the depreciation of rupee.”
He said the country’s economy was going through a stabilisation phase, but unfortunately, then came the COVID-19 which posed the century’s biggest challenge. “It was worth appreciable how Pakistan was out of the woods. The government not only saved the economy but also the lives of people,” he claimed, adding that the pandemic brought havoc across the world.
He said he was criticised by the political opponents for not clamping a complete lockdown, but his decision of smart lockdown was being followed by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Then, the premier said, came the challenge of Afghanistan and the flight of dollars, which put pressure on rupee. He said the world also witnessed a record surge in commodity prices as the supply and demand lines were disrupted by the pandemic. The people all over the world had been facing problems, he added. About the commodity prices, the prime minister expressed the confidence that they would ease soon.
The prime minister further stressed upon developing a tax culture like the Scandinavian countries that had the highest tax ratio.
He observed that the tax culture could not evolve in the country as the people were reluctant to pay taxes in the past, due to lack of trust over rulers who spent the public tax money on their luxurious living. The present government, he said, was making efforts to spend available resources on the poor segments of society.
He referred to the health cards initiative under which each family was getting free health facility worth one million rupees. Such a health insurance was never thought of in the world. To lift the living standards of poor segments of society, the government also launched the Ehsaas programme and stipends, he said.
The prime minister recounted that the country’s exports for the first time in history reached $31 billion, remittances $32 billion, and tax revenues around Rs6 trillion.
He said the expansion of industry was vital for a country’s economy. In Pakistan, large-scale manufacturing (LSM) witnessed a growth of 15 percent, corporate profits reached Rs930 billion, and the private sector off-take touched Rs1,138 billion, he said, adding that the information technology sector exports recorded 70 percent increase, reaching about $3 billion. He said the growth of economy was due to the government’s business-friendly policies.
The prime minister further said that rule of law in a society was critical, as in its absence, corruption would assume the role of cancer. “Corruption is a symptom of lack of rule of law in a society. Our fight is for the rule of law in Pakistan. It is a difficult one because of different cartels and mafias, who did not want the rule of law,” he said, terming it a ‘jihad’ against those mafias to secure the future of the country.
“In a banana republic, there are two sets of laws for the powerful and the weak,” he maintained. The prime minister stressed that alongside him [Imran Khan], the society would have to carry out this struggle because it was connected with the economic prosperity. “Nations had been destroyed due to corruption and lack of rule of law,” he added.
Imran Khan said Pakistan had a huge potential to excel on the economic front and, in the tourism sector alone, they could earn to meet the current account deficit.
He also assured the participants that all facilities and utilities would be provided for setting up industrial zones along the Rawalpindi Ring Road project. The project, he said, was in the final stages, which was delayed due to corruption that changed its alignment. He assured that the government would ensure provision of lands on lease at affordable prices to set up economic zones.
