Flour industrialists threaten to go on strike
Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA) has given a 24-hour deadline to the Sindh government, asking the provincial administration to lift the ban on purchase of wheat by Karachi millers.
In case its demand is not met by Wednesday evening, the association threatened that they would go on a shutter-down strike.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, PFMA Sindh Zone Chairman Chaudhry Amir Abdullah announced “we will go on a shutter-down strike for an indefinite period if free access is not provided to wheat supply from growers in upper Sindh and Punjab by 7pm Wednesday evening.”
Almost 70 percent of flour mills have been shut down in Karachi owing to the unavailability of wheat despite being a peak production season. “Around 92 flour mills are located in the city,” he stated.
GDP to enlarge 3.6pc in fy2024
Experts at a recent conference predicted that Pakistan’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth in FY 2024 will be 3.61 percent as the current account seems to be recovering from its deep deficit, albeit import controls, that need to be better targeted.
If this is sustained, it will spark a movement towards equilibrium in exchange rates, thereby lowering inflation.
On the other hand, supply shocks to agriculture and industry should turn into more robust growth. Crucially assuming continuation of the stringent monetary and fiscal policies adopted during FY23 well into FY24 and beyond into the government’s medium-term economic framework, the GDP growth for FY24 will be 3.61 percent.
SCO offers avenue to ramp up trade
The Government must make strenuous efforts to save Pakistan’s teetering economy and strengthen trade ties with the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to boost exports, suggest businessmen.
“SCO, with a collective GDP (gross domestic product) of over $23.5 trillion and total trade of $8.03 trillion, presents a significant opportunity to Pakistan to increase its trade and investment prospects,” emphasised Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) President and SCO Business Council Pakistan Chapter Chairman Irfan Iqbal Sheikh. He represented Pakistan in the SCO Business Council’s board meeting, which was attended by the representatives of big economies like China, Russia, India and a number of Central Asian states, according to a statement issued on Tuesday.
Thanks to import curbs, trade gap shrinks to $23.7 billion
The Government has been able to slash its trade deficit by a significant 40 percent to $23.7 billion in the first 10 months of current fiscal year, driven down by strict restrictions on imports in a bid to avoid default by choking the economy and stoking inflation. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Tuesday reported that the gap between imports and exports shrank by $15.6 billion, or 40 percent, in July-April of current fiscal year. Effectively, the government was saving trade dollars to shield itself in the backdrop of failure to persuade the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to revive its loan programme. A major jolt to imports came in April when purchases from overseas markets slumped to less than $3 billion, half of the country’s import needs and triggered serious supply issues.
Pakistan objectives to woo tourists
A 25-member delegation of Pakistan under the leadership of Adviser to Prime Minister on Tourism and Sports Awan Chaudhry is participating in the Arabian Travel Mart (ATM) Dubai 2023, being held from May 1 to 4, to showcase the rich tourism potential of the country. ATM is a leading global event for the inbound and outbound travel industry in the Middle East. More than 160 countries and 2,000+ exhibitors from around the world are participating in this year’s edition of ATM in Dubai. Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) has put up a pavilion along with partner organisations such as the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP). PM adviser and Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UAE Faisal Niaz Tirmizi jointly inaugurated Pakistan’s pavilion. Speaking on the occasion, the adviser applauded the efforts of PTDC for the promotion of tourism in Pakistan and encouraged the participation of private sector in the ATM Dubai.
Pakistan human capital review
A World Bank-led Pakistan human capital review has recommended the declaration of health and education emergency, as the country’s indicators fall below levels seen by the world’s poorest nations with eight out of 10 children unable to comprehend a simple text. To boost its human capital, Pakistan needs to invest more in the supply of health and education through domestic resource mobilisation, shifting resources from costly energy subsidies and improving efficiency in the existing allocations to human development sectors, recommends the Pakistan Human Capital Review report released on Tuesday. According to the report, an estimated 20.3 million of Pakistan’s school-age children are out of school. In addition, Pakistan’s learning poverty rate – the percentage of children unable to read and understand a short age-appropriate text by the age of 10 – stood at 79 percent post-Covid-19 pandemic and the 2022 floods.
Concern over energy incompetence
As Pakistan’s energy crisis worsens, businessmen are concerned about the alarming cost of inefficiencies in the power sector and demanded drastic measures to revamp the sector. Pakistan Industrial and Traders Association Front (PIAF) stressed the need for overhauling the power sector through some drastic measures as the total cost of inefficiencies was estimated at a whopping Rs9.6 trillion during the last one and a half decade. In a statement on Saturday, PIAF Chairman Faheemur Rehman Saigol stated that the circular debt crossed Rs4 trillion after an addition of Rs400 billion during the current fiscal year. In the present scenario, energy efficiency and conservation are the key measures taken by countries across the globe to mitigate the associated risks.