ISLAMABAD - Expressing some concerns over the destabilising political environment in the country, the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) has called upon all stakeholders to work for political stability.
In a press release issued here on Saturday, ICCI President Atif Ikram Sheikh noted that political stability was key for the growth of business and investment activities. He expressed the fear that the economy, which had just started to revive from a slow growth mode, could suffer a severe blow due to the re-emergence of volatile political atmosphere. “This will not auger well for the country,” he said categorically.
He said it was high time that a national consensus was developed on the core economic agenda to put the country on the path of sustainable growth.
The ICCI president said although foreign reserves of the country had improved, but the economy was still facing many challenges as public debt had reached Rs 18 trillion by the end of September 2015; exports declined to over $12 billion during the first seven months (July-Jan) 2015-16 from over $14 billion during the same period last year.
“Due to this, the trade deficit rose to over $15 billion between July and Feb 2015-16; energy shortage is still affecting trade and industrial activities,” he added.
Sheikh said that these state of affairs demanded that all political leaders of the country should put their heads together and focus on developing a broad-based economic agenda with consensus to effectively deal with the economic challenges of the country.
“Our close neighbours, China and India, are emerging as strong economies, but the unsatisfactory performance of our major economic indicators demand extraordinary measures,” he stressed.
He said the government should focus on structural reforms and adopt a comprehensive approach with consensus of all stakeholders to address key issues of the economy.
“The government should fully cooperate with the private sector in its efforts to modernise the industry, improve technology, which would help in improving the competitiveness of our products.