Senior Economist Asserts Current Economic Challenges Can Be Successfully Tackled
By
March 19, 2024
Former Finance Minister Dr. Hafeez Pasha said that despite facing tough economic times before, our country has managed to handle them well. He believes we can do the same with the current economic challenges.
Dr. Pasha shared his thoughts at a conference about Pakistan’s economic future, organized by the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI). The LCCI President, Kashif Anwar, also talked about the problems we’re facing and how we can solve them.
Dr. Pasha mentioned that our economy hasn’t been growing much lately. Even though more people are joining the workforce, the economy hasn’t been able to create enough jobs. He pointed out that disasters like COVID-19 and floods have made things worse. Despite this, he reminded everyone how Pakistan has overcome crises before, like in 1971 and 1998.
He also talked about how our exports haven’t been increasing much compared to our imports, which has made our trade and current account deficits worse. Dr. Pasha said our country owes a lot of money, and managing this debt is becoming harder.
He expressed concern about rising unemployment and poverty, especially among young, educated people. President Kashif Anwar agreed, saying that the falling value of our currency is making things more expensive, and it’s getting harder to pay back the money we owe to other countries.
Dr. Pasha suggested solutions like encouraging more exports and finding new ways to collect taxes. He also said we should consider selling some government-owned companies to help manage our debt.
