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Expert says situation of country's economy 'alarming'
Monday May 07, 2007
KARACHI: Renowned economist, Dr Shahid Hassan Siddiqui has said that despite of selling off of major national assets the local and foreign national debt had piled up during the last few years.
He said this during a lecture in the weekly lecture program running at the Pakistan Peoples Party Secretariat. The topic of his lecture was "Grave Economic Dangers facing the Economy of Pakistan".
Leader of the Opposition in the Sindh Assembly, Nisar Ahmad Khuhro presided over the program.
Dr. Shahid Hassan said that the policies of the regime not made for the benefit of people of Pakistan but for the benefit of financial imperialism.
"These policies are a total failure and had resulted in grave losses and damage to the country. This damage has occurred in spite of the breathing space provided by debt rescheduling, proceeds received from privatization and the huge aid received from the West", he added.
The regime policies are appeared to be aimed at patronizing bank defaulters and the rich and even the ex-governor of State Bank Dr. Ishrat Hussain had to write in an article that the poor of the country had to undergo enormous sufferings as a result of the economic policy of the last 7 years, he asserted.
The unemployment has soared and the gap between the rich and the poor has dangerously widened, while the inflation is sky, he added.
DR Siddiqui said that the trade deficit was touching 14 billion dollars and it was almost as much as the country's total exports. Banks had played a most exploitative role by writing off loans of 100 billion rupees and bring the returns to depositors to ridiculously low levels, and by terminating the services of about 50, 000 trained and skilled employees.
In spite of selling national assets and receiving 5 billion dollars for them the foreign debt had gone up by 5 billion dollars since November 1999. The local debt had shown an increase of 1, 000 billion rupees and had gone up from 1, 392 billion rupees to 2, 400 billion rupees during the same period. The per capita loan on the country had gone up and was one of the highest in the world. The overall situation of the economy was indeed very alarming, he asserted.
It has been claimed time and against that that the International financial institutions had praised the economic growth of Pakistan, but the fact is that these institutions even after our total subservience to them had been highly critical of our performance, DR Siddiqui said.
According to Dr. Shahid Hassan, tax evasion, corruption, financial and intellectual misconduct and cheating, exorbitant expenditure of the state, bad governance and other such factors were eating at the roots of our economy and society.
The loss to national exchequer on these accounts was not less than 1000 billion rupees per year, he revealed.
He maintained that the so-called growth of economy was in the banking sector where the profits had multiplied through exploitation and the automobile sector. Both of these were unsustainable and did not benefit the poor in any way.
He foresees very serious problems in the future when the moratorium on debt rescheduling expired and the growing trade deficit had to be made good by our own earning instead of selling of further assets.
There were hardly any assets left to be sold, he pointed out.
In his presidential remarks Mr. Nisar Ahmad Khuhro said that leave aside the working classes of Pakistan who were being pushed to the very edge, even the business community was showing widespread disappointment over he policies of the government.
There was a complete anarchy in the national economy where only the dishonest and unscrupulous elements could prosper like never before and those who wanted to observe healthy practices were going down the drain, claimed.
Commenting on the priorities of the government he said that the government could confiscate 6, 000 busses to carry people by force to the public meeting of General Musharaf while like the previous years children were dying of gastro disease and medicines and beds were not available at hospitals.
http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?177374
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This Dictatorship isn't good news for Pakistan its selling national assets, I knew they won't help in the long run the expert is really shows some good points that are to be noted "The loss to national exchequer on these accounts was not less than 1000 billion rupees per year, he revealed." this not good revelations.
The dictatorship should have introduced laws against the Landlords that would have helped lots of poor farmers who are held in a strong hold by rich capital farmers. The now government is a plutocracy and a dictatorship meaning a government for the rich and for the tyrants.
Monday May 07, 2007
KARACHI: Renowned economist, Dr Shahid Hassan Siddiqui has said that despite of selling off of major national assets the local and foreign national debt had piled up during the last few years.
He said this during a lecture in the weekly lecture program running at the Pakistan Peoples Party Secretariat. The topic of his lecture was "Grave Economic Dangers facing the Economy of Pakistan".
Leader of the Opposition in the Sindh Assembly, Nisar Ahmad Khuhro presided over the program.
Dr. Shahid Hassan said that the policies of the regime not made for the benefit of people of Pakistan but for the benefit of financial imperialism.
"These policies are a total failure and had resulted in grave losses and damage to the country. This damage has occurred in spite of the breathing space provided by debt rescheduling, proceeds received from privatization and the huge aid received from the West", he added.
The regime policies are appeared to be aimed at patronizing bank defaulters and the rich and even the ex-governor of State Bank Dr. Ishrat Hussain had to write in an article that the poor of the country had to undergo enormous sufferings as a result of the economic policy of the last 7 years, he asserted.
The unemployment has soared and the gap between the rich and the poor has dangerously widened, while the inflation is sky, he added.
DR Siddiqui said that the trade deficit was touching 14 billion dollars and it was almost as much as the country's total exports. Banks had played a most exploitative role by writing off loans of 100 billion rupees and bring the returns to depositors to ridiculously low levels, and by terminating the services of about 50, 000 trained and skilled employees.
In spite of selling national assets and receiving 5 billion dollars for them the foreign debt had gone up by 5 billion dollars since November 1999. The local debt had shown an increase of 1, 000 billion rupees and had gone up from 1, 392 billion rupees to 2, 400 billion rupees during the same period. The per capita loan on the country had gone up and was one of the highest in the world. The overall situation of the economy was indeed very alarming, he asserted.
It has been claimed time and against that that the International financial institutions had praised the economic growth of Pakistan, but the fact is that these institutions even after our total subservience to them had been highly critical of our performance, DR Siddiqui said.
According to Dr. Shahid Hassan, tax evasion, corruption, financial and intellectual misconduct and cheating, exorbitant expenditure of the state, bad governance and other such factors were eating at the roots of our economy and society.
The loss to national exchequer on these accounts was not less than 1000 billion rupees per year, he revealed.
He maintained that the so-called growth of economy was in the banking sector where the profits had multiplied through exploitation and the automobile sector. Both of these were unsustainable and did not benefit the poor in any way.
He foresees very serious problems in the future when the moratorium on debt rescheduling expired and the growing trade deficit had to be made good by our own earning instead of selling of further assets.
There were hardly any assets left to be sold, he pointed out.
In his presidential remarks Mr. Nisar Ahmad Khuhro said that leave aside the working classes of Pakistan who were being pushed to the very edge, even the business community was showing widespread disappointment over he policies of the government.
There was a complete anarchy in the national economy where only the dishonest and unscrupulous elements could prosper like never before and those who wanted to observe healthy practices were going down the drain, claimed.
Commenting on the priorities of the government he said that the government could confiscate 6, 000 busses to carry people by force to the public meeting of General Musharaf while like the previous years children were dying of gastro disease and medicines and beds were not available at hospitals.
http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?177374
------------------------------------------------
This Dictatorship isn't good news for Pakistan its selling national assets, I knew they won't help in the long run the expert is really shows some good points that are to be noted "The loss to national exchequer on these accounts was not less than 1000 billion rupees per year, he revealed." this not good revelations.
The dictatorship should have introduced laws against the Landlords that would have helped lots of poor farmers who are held in a strong hold by rich capital farmers. The now government is a plutocracy and a dictatorship meaning a government for the rich and for the tyrants.
