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Govt unaware of full scope of current economic crisis: Miftah Ismail

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  • Miftah says majority of the issues are self-inflicted.
  • Pakistan’s economic woes are not caused by IMF, former finmin says.
  • Urges govt to raise minimum wage to match pace of inflation.

Former finance minister Miftah Ismail said that the coalition government is unaware of the full scope of the current economic crises, emphasising that Pakistan has “been facing a crisis persistently,” The News reported Friday.

Miftah — while speaking during a pre-budget discussion at Salim Habib University titled ‘Pakistan’s financial crisis and a way forward’ — said Pakistan’s economic issues were not caused by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but rather by “the successive leaderships of the country”.

“Pakistan should not be where it is right now; two million shopkeepers pay Rs30,000 in taxes,” he said, warning that more economic issues will arise in the nation, and “we must draw lessons from them”.

‘Majority issues are self-inflicted’

Commenting on the delay in the revival of the IMF programme, he reiterated that Pakistan needs the IMF for the 24th time to avoid default.

Miftah said: “Pakistan was going through a very difficult economic time and the nation does not have the resources to pay its debts.

“We have to go for an IMF programme, if we don’t go, we will default and no one in the world will give us loans,” the former finance minister said.

He said the majority of the issues are, in fact, self-inflicted; however, getting out of the economic spiral will take some time.

Pointing to the lack of revenue, the former finance minister said that the country needed to take new loans to pay the interest on the previous loans. 

He added that when a country borrows to retire the previous loans, the debt of that country becomes unsustainable.

Minimum wages must be raised

Regarding the upcoming budget, the former finance minister suggested that minimum wage — which is currently at Rs25,000 — must be raised to keep pace with the exorbitant inflation rate.

“For the past 75 years, 90% of Pakistanis have experienced the effects of inflation; nevertheless, 10% of the middle class and elite today also experience price hikes,” he pointed out.

Pakistan’s inflation, based on the consumer price index, increased to a record high of 36.4% in April from 35.4% in the previous month. The increase in inflation was due to higher food inflation amid currency devaluation.

He noted that Pakistan has a higher inflation rate than India and Bangladesh. “Not all inflationary pressures can be attributed to the increase in prices worldwide,” he said, adding that Pakistan’s policy decisions were flawed.

Highlighting the need for increased provincial competition for better performance, the former finance minister demanded that more federal powers should be transferred to the provinces. 

He claimed that because the US adopted this strategy, its states’ economies fared better. 

Miftah suggested that a meeting should be held between all the political stakeholders in Pakistan to discuss the best course of action to rescue the nation from this current economic crisis.

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Pakistan Looks To China For Investment In Important Sectors: SIFC Encourages New Chinese Projects

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Due to the Special Investment Facilitation Council’s assistance, Chinese businessmen are showing a revived interest in Pakistan. Pakistan has recently sent high-ranking delegations to China to promote investment in industries such as renewable energy, medical equipment, leather, plastics, textiles, and plastics.

At port Qasim in Karachi, the Chinese solar panel manufacturer “Renesola Pakistan” intends to set up an assembly plant capable of producing up to 4 gigawatts of solar energy. An electric bike, scooter, and tricycle assembly plant is planned to be established in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by the Xiamen Sino-Pak International consulting and investment firm.

Pakistan’s renewable energy sector is of interest to Hexing Electrical, and the Ruyi Shandong Group intends to develop textile parks that meet international standards. Pakistan will also see the establishment of factories by Rainbow Industries Limited and Shaoxing Chemical Industry.

An exploration memorandum on shale and tight gas potential has been inked by the oil and gas development business and CCDI.

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Pakistan experiences an increase in cement exports.

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Relative to 570,692 tons in the same month last year, the data that was made public shows that the exports increased by 71.52 percent to 978,871 tons.

Still, domestic cement sales were down 18% in September 2024, continuing the downward trend.

The month’s total cement sales were 3.540 million tons, down from 3.751 million tons in September 2023, a 5.63 percent annual decline.

In terms of total sales, domestic sales decreased by 19.78 percent to 8.130 million tons between July and September of 2024.

At the same time, 2.140 million tons of cement were exported, a 22.19 percent increase. Even while exports have increased, domestic sales have decreased for the fourth straight month.

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Pakistan’s deposit protection program now covers one million rupees.

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An increase in the guarantee sum for qualified depositors of member banks was announced by the Deposit Protection Corporation (DPC) on Tuesday. The increase was from Rs500,000 to Rs1 million.

All of the eligible depositors across the country would be afforded complete protection as a result of this improvement, which was approved by the board of directors of the DPC.

The decision was made with the intention of protecting the interests of depositors and fostering financial stability inside the country, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

A whopping 77.7 million accounts held by member banks are now protected by the DPC as a result of this revised guarantee. This contributes to the protection of about 96% of the total account holders in the banking sector, which equates to approximately 80 million personal accounts.

A number of experts considered that the DPC’s guarantee was insufficient in protecting depositors, particularly during times of economic uncertainty. Previously, the DPC’s guarantee was restricted to a maximum of Rs500,000.

It is anticipated that the decision to raise the limit will boost the trust of depositors and encourage a greater number of persons to interact with the banking system. This means that the decision comes at a vital time.

To ensure that access to this safety net is uncomplicated and uncomplicated, it is important to note that the deposit protection facility is accessible to all eligible depositors at no additional cost.

To emphasize the significance of preserving a healthy banking environment, the guarantee will not be activated until the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) declares a bank to be a failed organization.

The State Bank of Pakistan, also known as SBP Bank Bank depositors are protected by deposit protection charges (DPC) Deposit rates

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