Staff Reporter
Karachi
The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry President Mian Anjum Nisar has stressed the need for serious structural reforms, with a keen focus on value-addition for a sustainable economic growth, recommending the government to raise exports to double digit of the GDP till the end of its term, as Pakistan’s exports have bounced back after witnessing decline in last four months. Country’s exports have fetched $1.99 billion in July 2020, witnessing 5.8 percent growth in dollar terms.
Mian Anjum Nisar said that consistent borrowing by developing economies to shore up its reserves in desperate times is only to lead towards a debt trap. He said that borrowing from friendly countries should only be seen as a short-term solution to prevent reserves depletion and consequent further depreciation of the currency.
Mian Anjum Nisar stressed that focus should be on promoting exports and restricting imports alongside making domestic industry more competitive and subsequently expand its export market.
He said that exports of goods and services are an injection into the circular flow of income leading to a rise in aggregate demand and an expansion of output, helping raise per capita incomes and reduce extreme poverty especially in developing economies like Pakistan.
He said that world trade has not still come out of the dip in the wake of lingering corona pandemic, as exports of regional countries including India and Bangladesh registered a decline but Pakistan’s exports bounced back, reporting around 5 percent growth in July 2020 compared with regional players. The exports went up in July 2020 after registering continued decline pre and post COVID-19 pandemic.
Regarding market diversification, Mian Anjum Nisar pointed out that not much progress has been shown in this regard, as the exports still seem to be heavily dependent on traditional export markets. He underlined the need for evaluating geographical diversification in order to re-align the focus towards new opportunities.
