President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum and All Karachi Industrial Alliance, FPCCI’s Businessmen Panel Sr. Vice Chairman, and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain on Monday said the government can save Rs3 billion annually by paying little attention to some sectors.

Paying attention to reforms in the bleeding power sector, state-run sick units, international trade, FBR and expenditures can help the government break the begging bowl and put the country on the path to progress, he said.

Talking to the business community, Mian Zahid Hussain said that these sectors are inflicting losses to the tune of trillions of rupees while the gap is filled through loans and some of the burden is transferred to masses which is unsustainable.

The former minister noted reforms will strengthen local currency, boost production and exports and the central bank will be able to offer low interest rates triggering productivity and jobs.

He said that the government and IMF agreed on spending Rs503 billion to keep sick enterprises running but the government ended up spending double amount. This tantamount to keep many corrupt and incompetent in jobs on the cost of masses which is intolerable.

He said that power sector is wasting trillions but the government is ignoring reforms and increasing tariff strangulating the economy.

Similarly, billion have been spent on reforming FBR but to no avail and this department always prefer to burden masses while ignoring expansion in the tax net.

The government seems less interested in reviving sick units and boost tax income by netting untaxed and more interested in finding shortcuts to the existing problems, he said.