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Future of Pak economy very bright: Mian Javed

KHALID ABBAS SAIF

FAISALABAD: The future of Pakistan's economy is very bright as it is witnessing positive improvement.

This was stated by Mian Javed Iqbal, a leading industrialist and former president of Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI), while talking to newsmen here on Sunday.

Fully endorsing Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf's views about the economic stabilisation, he said that positive improvements are already visible and would have salutary impact on the national economy.

He termed bumper cotton crop, improvement in state owned industrial units and substantial decrese in government spending as indicators paving way for much needed foreign investment.

About cotton crop, he said that it will play an instrumental role in dragging Pakistan out of the present economic crisis.

"Good governance, has also played an important role in bringing about positive improvement in economy," he said and added that earlier mega national organisations like Wapda, PIA, Railways and Pakistan Steel were running in deficit and billions of rupees were going to drains. However, as a result of the measures taken by the government, these organisations have witnessed positive improvements thus reducing burden over the government exchequer.

The reduction in government spending has also provided relief to the overburdened economy, he said and added that it will help government to spare more funds to gear up the economic activity in the country. About overall Pakistani economy, Mian Javed Iqbal said that Rs 30-35 billion are a petty cash of multinational companies and is manageable within the available circumstances.

However, he said the Rs billion short-term loan is pinching hard, which can also be repaid without any problem. In this connection, he said that Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) has generated Rs 1 billion by selling its only 10 percent assets. Hence Rs 8 billion funds can be raised by selling its remaining assets, he added.

He said that Pakistan is very lucky as it has viable infrastructure in the form of Wapda and Pakistan Steel.

He said that their shares can be marketed in stock exchange to raise funds for national development.

He said the government should encourage domestic investors to purchase their shares as the foreign giants will prefer to purchase these units at throw away prices. But they will certainly establish their hegemony and once again Pakistan will have to face IPPs like situation.

Mian Javed appreciated the Tax Amnesty Scheme for the year 2000 but said that some steps are being taken to make it a failure. He opposed the 10 percent rate and said that it is very high and certainly discourage the people.

He said that ten years ago a similar scheme was introduced with tax rate of only 2 percent but it also failed to attract the people. Moreover the scrutiny of declarations during a period of six months will also shake the confidence and thus discourage the scheme.

He said that the scrutiny period should be only for 30 days.

He also opposed the clause to cancel the declarations up to 2005 and said that it will prove a hanging sword and thus would not be acceptable to the investors.

He further said that government should appoint high officials to further improve this scheme with a direction to visit chambers and recommend proposals in the light of the suggestions and proposals presented by businessmen and industrialists.