Prime Minister Imran Khan Tuesday said his government faced many unprecedented challenges during its three-year rule adding that Pakistan’s economy was still in a better position as against many countries in the region, particularly India.
“Pakistan is still one of the cheapest countries compared to the world. The opposition calls us incompetent, but the fact is that our government has saved the nation from all crises,” he said while addressing the inaugural ceremony of 14th International Chambers Summit 2022 arranged by the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) in Islamabad, says a news report. Imran said oil prices in the country were still lower than in other countries. He admitted rising inflation and that the masses were suffering badly because of it, but maintained that it was a global issue owing to Covid-19.
The prime minister maintained that his government’s ‘prudent policies’ rescued the country from “once-in-a-century” challenge of Covid-19 pandemic.
“Today British Prime Minister [Boris Johnson] is following our policies to tackle [coronavirus],” he said, while referring to his decision of not imposing a complete lockdown in the country. The premier said his ambition was not to become a prime minister but to make “Pakistan a great nation”.
Imran underlined that exports and tax collection were the two main driving agents to boost economy, and the government was fully focused on them, reports APP. The government, he said, was making strenuous efforts to remove all hurdles and bottlenecks faced by exporters, investors and businessmen, and give a spur to the exports industry.
He 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 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 the 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 business-friendly policy of the country.
The prime minister said the government was constantly endeavouring to introduce incentives for ease of doing business and remove all bottlenecks, which would help increase the businessmen’s profits and develop a tax culture.
He also termed the introduction of mini-budget an effort to document the economy. Out of the total estimated Rs 11 trillion retail market, only Rs 3 trillion market was registered.
The government was also working on full tax automation, he added. 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, would not have helped us, we would have defaulted due to our liabilities. We had no reserves to stem the depreciation of rupee.”
