Former President of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) Dr Shahid Rasheed Butt, on Friday, said it is impossible to stabilise the rupee in the presence of a broken economy. Oil price freeze by the former government and efforts to stabilise the rupee and bring down the dollar’s value by the incumbent government has damaged the economy and annoyed the IMF, he said.

Shahid Rasheed Butt said in a statement that even after the failure of the experiment to bring down the dollar’s value artificially, the same policy is being followed, which is surprising.

How the country’s condition can change when there is no change in the important economic policies, he said, adding that IMF is being annoyed, which can jeopardise the disbursement of approved loans and grants by other institutions that Pakistan cannot afford.

The business leader noted that policymakers focus on reducing the current account deficit by holding back imports, but they are forgetting that exports also require imports.

He added that the economy could not improve unless the exports grow; otherwise, the government would have to repay the loans through fresh borrowing.

He said that the former rulers damaged the economy by freezing the price of fuel for the sake of popularity. Now, the current rulers are busy trying to destroy the country’s economy by freezing the dollar price while the people suffer the consequences of both policies.

Many politicians are unwilling to give importance to the country’s interest or the economy but focus on their ego, which is damaging the country, he observed.