Daily Times

“The Pakistani Rupee has improved against dollars up to six rupee after general elections and stability in Pakistan Stock Exchange shows that economists, market forces and international monetary institutions welcomed stable change in the country,” said the Businessman Panel on Saturday.

In a joint statement issued on Saturday, BMP vice chairman Sheikh Aslam, BMP Capital Area chairman Riaz Khattak, BMP KPK chairman Adnan Jalil and BMP Federal secretary general Ahmad Jawad said that the BMP had high expectations from the incoming government of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and they were hoping that the dwindling economic situation of the country will be stabilised through effective economic policies which will reduce the trade deficit of the country.

The Businessmen Panel also extended their heartiest congratulations to Imran Khan on the glorious victory of his party Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf in the General Election 2018.

The Panel further elaborated that Imran Khan’s success was reflective of the immense confidence that he enjoyed among the masses and an indication of appreciation of his meritorious, dedicated and devoted services for the country.

The BMP said that the newly elected Government’s first and foremost task should be to address the rising twin deficits and to introduce reform measures. They said that Pakistan’s external Current Account Deficit (CAD) for FY18 came to $18 billion (5.8pc of GDP) which was 43pc more than FY17’s CAD of $12.6 bn. They explained that this was much higher than expectations and was partly financed through reserves, which declined by $6.3bn during FY18 to close at $9.8bn.

The Panel pointed out that, other than the external account, the fiscal situation was also of concern as fiscal deficit in FY18 was expected to be close to 7 per cent (compared to 5.8pc in FY17) due to lower than expected revenues. They added that the above rising trend did not bode well for Pakistan’s economic outlook.

They also said that there was no doubt that the new PTI government will inherit an economy in crisis, with debts rising and foreign reserves shrinking, likely presaging yet another painful round of bailout negotiations with the International Monetary Fund.

“The economy is growing, with the gross domestic product forecast to rise nearly six pc this year, but corruption, persistent terrorist violence, and decades of bad government have saddled the country with an almost bottomless list of structural problems, such as illiteracy, sectarianism, and public-health crises. If Imran Khan actually changes Pakistan in the ways that he has promised, it will be a great relief for the people of Pakistan and the industry of this country,” said the BMP.

Published in Daily Times, July 29^th 2018.