Ashfaq Tola for unity, political stability to pull economy out of crises.

KARACHI -- State Minister and Chairman of Reforms and Resource Mobilization Commission (RRMC) Ashfaq Tola has said that Pakistan had been into serious economic crises in 1998, 2008 and 2013 but came out successfully due to strong unity exhibited by everyone along with political stability which was the only way forward to pull the country out of current economic crises.

'The current crises being faced by the country were unique as these were a double-edged sword surfacing due to our own internal weaknesses', Chairman RRMC added while speaking at a meeting during his visit to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI). Chairman Businessmen Group Zubair Motiwala, Vice Chairmen BMG Anjum Nisar and Jawed Bilwani, President KCCI Mohammed Tariq Yousuf, Senior Vice President Touseef Ahmed, Vice President Haris Agar, Former Presidents and KCCI Managing Committee Members also attended the meeting.

'Bits and pieces don't win the game and political stability is the name of the game so we all have to act together to deal with the situation', said Ashfaq Tola, adding that the economic stability is always tied up with political stability. He was of the view that by and large, the situation was not so cozy with the IMF which was the basic reason why power subsidy given to export industries and other subsidies have been withdrawn in addition to the announcement of mini budget and other harsh measures.

'The economy flourishes only in those countries where tough decisions are taken as easy decisions never pave way for economic prosperity' he said, adding that rupee devaluation and man-made crises caused due to Russia-Ukraine war have also contributed to a very large extent to further worsen the situation beyond anyone's thinking. Referring to concerns expressed over delays in release of Sales Tax refunds, he said that it was a genuine issue which, he would personally...