Former caretaker federal minister Dr. Gohar Ejaz said on Monday that Pakistan would be the largest economy of Muslim Ummah during the next ten years.
Addressing the business community here at Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) Regional Office, he said that Pakistan has opened the doors of trade to China, UAE and other countries. “We are aiming to increase the country’s exports up to USD 100 billion and we have brought the dollar rate from Rs 340 to Rs 280. We have worked hard and opened the doors of trade to China, UAE and other countries,” he mentioned.
Gohar Ejaz said that China, America and the Gulf region are major markets for Pakistani products, asserting that a policy has also been formulated that after three years, no raw materials would go out of Pakistan. He said that Afghan Transit Trade (ATT) had increased from USD two billion to USD 7.2 billion during July 2022 to June 2023. “The imports we had banned through LCs (Letters of Credit), had been reaching Pakistan through ATT, and the high US dollar rate against rupee was mainly due to ATT. Out of USD 7.2 billion ATT, we had banned USD 3 billion products/imports. As soon, we clarified the ATT policy, the US dollar rate went down significantly i.e from Rs 340 to Rs 280,” he claimed.
He mentioned that usually, the interest rate has to be kept higher than the inflation rate, and at that time, the inflation rate was 28 percent but the last caretaker government had contained the interest rate at 22 percent which was then also objected by the IMF. He said that 50 percent of employment opportunities in the country were created by the private sector.
FPCCI’s job is to formulate policies and it should have economists to help guide the government, he suggested and added that the FPCCI should form a panel of five big economists who make a ten-year industry vision for the government.
The FPCCI Regional Chairman Zaki Ejaz, former caretaker provincial minister SM Tanveer, FPCCI Vice President Zain Iftikhar, former president Zubair Tufail, Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) Group Leader Riazuddin Sheikh also spoke on the occasion and felicitated Dr. Gohar Ejaz for his excellent services.—APP
