LAHORE (June 13 2009): Some 300,000 workers in the industrial sector lost jobs in 2007-08 due to the load shedding. According to the Second Annual Report 2009 of Institute of Public Policy, Lahore, the overall cost of load shedding to the industrial sector was about Rs l57 billion for this period.
Water shortages, similarly, cost the country as much as Rs 70 billion in 2007-08. Further, power load shedding cost the country Rs 210 billion, and over $1 billion of export earnings, the report added. Imminent increase in load shedding is likely to take the country to bloody bath, as it would leave the labour in the open without job, the economic experts expressed fear.
The industry is already in doldrums and becoming non-competitive to the last, leaving everybody including labour, industrialist and the common man in a situation in which they would not be able to last out. With a few more weeks to go before the 2009-10 Federal Budget is announced, there are a number of considerations before the policy makers.
Given the resource constraints, they have to prioritise areas for development in all sectors of the economy, tackle issues like energy shortages, and water shortages which constrains growth of various sectors of the economy and has far reaching implications for exports, employment and poverty.
Development of the power sector with better management of electricity distribution is the need of the hour and one hopes that policy makers, when they prepare the Federal Budget, would focus on this sector, as it has implications for all sectors of the economy.
Investing in enhancing power generation capacity in the country and upgrading existing power generation facilities, along with improvement in the distribution system would go a long way in bringing about an end to the energy problems faced by the various economic sectors and would pave way for improved performance in the future, the report said.
Energy shortages and upward adjustments in prices had raised the cost of production in local industry, and along with lower demand, particularly for consumer durable it contributed to the sluggish performance of the large-scale industry. It is to be seen what the Budget has in store for this sector.
To move forward, the small and medium sized enterprises in the informal sector would need focus of public policy. This sector employs large numbers and, if it is developed, it would not only contribute to increasing the rate of growth of GDP, but help reduce poverty and narrow income distribution in the country, the report added.
