Business leader and former President of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), Dr. Shahid Rasheed Butt, said on Sunday that the people who are suffering from inflation and unemployment have high expectations from Army Chief General Syed Asim Munir. He said the actions of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) have changed the economy’s direction, improving the situation. He added that the public’s and business community’s confidence is increasing, and Pakistan’s reputation at the global level is improving.
Shahid Rasheed Butt said in a statement issued here today that the economy is improving due to a host of initiatives. Still, it will never grow as it should unless the circular debt issue is resolved. Expensive electricity directly results from circular debt, which has reached 2.26 trillion rupees. This debt is increasing to 66 billion rupees monthly and may reach three trillion by December.
The business leader said that this debt results from corruption, mismanagement, and incompetence of the concerned authorities, while ordinary citizens have to bear the consequences. Due to the high cost of electricity, its use is constantly decreasing, but the installation of new IPPs is also continuing.
Shahid Rasheed Butt informed that a one per cent reduction in electricity price leads to an increase in its consumption by 0.3 per cent, which provides relief to the public while increasing economic activity. Therefore, he said, it is necessary to make electricity cheaper, but the circular debt problem has to be solved.
Shahid Rashid Butt further said that Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit was a great success. We got many benefits from holding the summit in Pakistan as we hosted heads of more than ten countries and essential personalities, and there were no untoward incidents during it.
He noted that, due to the SCO conference, the world’s confidence in Pakistan has increased largely, and the outside world’s concerns regarding security have been reduced. The Prime Minister of China signed the MoUs, which proved that the incidents of terrorism against the Chinese have not affected their intentions, he observed.
After ten years, the Indian Foreign Minister visited Pakistan and spoke with our Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar. Nawaz Sharif also made a delightful statement that ice can melt between the two countries, which is important for both neighbours.
Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif emphasised the need for Pakistan and India to “bury” the past to move beyond their historical conflicts and focus on building better future relations. He made these remarks to Indian journalists, praising Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar’s recent visit to Islamabad as a positive step.
