Observer Report
Islamabad
Business community leader and ex-President ICCI Shahid Rasheed Butt has the federal government failed to deliver despite record borrowing of $29.2 billion during the last two years and is going to set a new record by borrowing $15 billion during the current fiscal.
In a statement here on Sunday, Shahid Rasheed said that poor performance of the PTI government has eroded its popularity besides forcing the masses and business community to lead a miserable life.
Repeated crises, uncontrolled inflation, scarcity of essential basic services, substandard quality of education, sanitation and healthcare, weak economic growth and the mounting national debt has resulted in popular frustration, he added. The business leader said that a large slide of the rupee has left our currency inferior in value to many other developing countries including Afghanistan and Bhutan, which has irritated masses who are questioning the wisdom behind such policies. The government is aware that it has disappointed masses and now it is struggling to regain lost ground with the help of symbolic and fancy projects that will not help it in any way, he added.
Shahid Rasheed said that Pakistan does not need new cities, parks, artificial lakes, business centers and other fancy projects costing tens of billions but full attention on the agriculture sector so that masses can get wheat flour and other edibles at reasonable prices. The agriculture sector is in need of focus and resources as well as a long-term commitment as rising commodity production can help steer the country out of economic crises, he maintained.
