Political Parties Should Consult FPCCI Before Formulating Their Economic Policies for Their Manifestos
The Acting President of the FPCCI, Saquib Fayyaz Magoon, expressed his gratitude to Senator Siraj Ul Haq, the Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), for visiting the FPCCI headquarters to present the JI’s economic manifesto and plan for developing businesses and infrastructure to members of the business, industry, and trade communities in Karachi. He went on to say that political parties should get the facts from the business community, which is a great resource for grassroots information, by consulting FPCCI before drafting economic policies for their platforms.
As Saquib Fayyaz Magoon pointed out, the business community only wants to hear answers, not empty promises. He asked all political parties to present their economic platforms to the top body in a way that is practical, detailed, and well-thought-out. Let’s find out how the political parties plan to lower the cost of doing business, get rid of the things that make it hard to do business, close the skills development gaps, allocate funds for health and education, reduce the losses of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), close the 4,000 billion-dollar tax gap, and expand the tax base. We also need to know how the new government will fully utilize the SIFC platform.
Saquib Fayyaz Magoon agreed that, as stated in JI’s platform, it is critical to update contracts with IPPs; nonetheless, he stressed that to prevent legal action on a national or international level, a consultative method should be employed. Additionally, he mentioned that the energy sector’s circular debt has reached a significant and worrisome PKR. 5.731 trillion.
As the acting head of the FPCCI put it, the next government should focus on structural and macroeconomic issues. These include lowering the SBP’s key policy rate so that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can get loans from commercial banks, making electricity and gas more affordable so that the country can compete on a regional level, and making sure that policies related to taxes, consultation, economics, industrialization, trade, agriculture, infrastructure, information technology, and
According to Senator Siraj Ul Haq, Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami, his party plans to give 300 free power units to the poor; collect zakat from 750 million Pakistanis, and give it to the lower-income 750 million. Equally important is consulting with and discussing defense spending with lawmakers.
Siraj Ul Haq elaborated on how zakat and Ushr collections will form the basis of their riba-free monetary system. He went on to say that welfare spending will be the top priority for the government, followed by developmental expenditures, and administrative expenses should be the third biggest category.
In response to growing power costs, Siraj Ul Haq questioned why Pakistan could not make use of its own resources, such as its coal deposits, which are valued at $25 trillion and can last for 300 years. Furthermore, yearly theft and T&D losses in Pakistan amount to PKR. 500, although in neighbouring China there are no such losses. Additionally, he brought up the fact that 70% of IPP owners are Pakistani nationals, who could be convinced to renegotiate their contracts for the benefit of the country.
In addition, the chief of JI voiced his deepest worries about the following: the fact that 28 million Pakistani children do not attend school; the fact that 9 million people are addicted to drugs; the fact that agricultural output per acre is only one-third of its potential; and the fact that the country’s economic growth rate is only 0.3%. He further mentioned that Jamaat-e-Islami’s staff includes 1,200 PhDs, all of whom are highly qualified in their respective domains, such as economics and finance.