PRIME Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar stated on Thursday that measures implemented under the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) are yielding positive results, as the caretaker government endeavours to revive the national economy. Talking to a delegation from the Pakistan Association of Large Steel Producers (PALSP) and industrialists of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, he said the caretaker government has taken steps to create a conducive business environment and provide facilities to the private sector to contribute to the country’s development and increase tax revenue.
Different visions, strategies and policies were launched by successive governments in the past as well but these could not produce the desired results mainly due to their lacklustre implementation and disruption due to change of the government. The SIFC, where the Army Chief also sits and provides institutional input and support, can serve as an alternative to the much-talked-about Charter of Economy as involvement of the Army means the policies once initiated would remain in force despite political transition. The caretaker Government surely deserves credit for its efforts in facilitating investment, resolving industrialists’ problems and taking measures aimed at bringing the economy back on track. There is no denying the fact that the measures conceived, approved and launched by the SIFC would go a long way in improving the economic conditions of the country provided these are continued with the same zeal despite feeble political structure that is emerging in the post-election scenario. However, we have been pointing out in these columns that aspirations and satisfaction of the people should be the prime consideration and therefore, SIFC policies and programmes are unlikely to yield the desired results until and unless major concerns of the people are addressed without further delay. How can an economy flourish and people prosper when electricity and gas tariffs are revised upwards in a massive way every now and then and disproportionate burden is passed on to the people whenever there is an upward trend in the prices of oil in the global market as we have witnessed just now?
