Chairman of National Business Group Pakistan, President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum, and All Karachi Industrial Alliance, and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain said on Friday that the wrong decisions of economic managers have never allowed financial stability in the country. He said that merit has always been ignored for the benefit of a small group, and the direction of the economy was deliberately kept wrong, which bankrupted the country.

Mian Zahid Hussain said that Pakistan is currently surviving because of IMF loans and support from some countries that are fed up with providing continued help. Talking to the business community, the veteran business leader said that the new government should hand over the economy to serious people instead of illusionists to improve matters.

The business leader said that Pakistan’s economy can no longer bear the burden of power theft, line losses, and capacity charges. The only options for running the country are immediately selling failed government agencies, expanding the tax base, and observing merit.

Mian Zahid Hussain said the economic steps taken for the short-lived benefits resulted in applause and headlines. Still, they also shake the foundations of the economy, which the masses must brave. He said the incoming government should choose serious people to manage the economy instead of magicians seeking cheap popularity.

Failed politicians consider it necessary to cheat the masses. Sometimes, the public is told that people from the United States and other rich nations will come here for jobs, and occasionally, such benefits are doled out, which many rich countries cannot afford. We don’t need rulers tackling circular debt and other problems through borrowing. Instead of ensuring economic development, some rulers try to increase GDP to cheat the public by increasing imports. A former prime minister set a record of $72 billion in imports to boost GDP, shaking the country’s foundations but managing to fool the people.

He questioned how someone could reduce the dollar’s value and increase the value of the local currency without increasing exports when the economy is on the verge. A performer recently jumped into the economic arena, damaged the economy by his policies, and ruined a deal with the IMG before leaving the country.  

Mian Zahid Hussain further said that the new government should avoid such people, avoid quick actions to give an impression of development, and ensure merit in decision-making; otherwise, it will pay a cost in the shape of failure.