Low growth, high inflation and unemployment expected in 2023: Mian Zahid Hussain.

Chairman of National Business Group Pakistan, President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum, and All Karachi Industrial Alliance, and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain on Wednesday said the growth rate will remain low in the coming year while inflation and unemployment will increase.

Interest rates are likely to rise further in 2023, profits of many companies will decrease, many businesses will run on almost zero profit and many will bankrupt, he said.

Mian Zahid Hussain said that in present circumstances, any further delay in reviving the IMF programme would be tantamount to suicide.

Talking to the business community, the veteran business leader said that at present the state of the country's economy is critical and Pakistan also has to repay a huge amount of loans which has become a big problem.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar wants to bring the dollar to two hundred rupees, while the majority of economists are calling it impossible, he said.

The business leader said that the finance minister is not ready to leave the dollar unregulated at any cost because it will weaken the rupee and increase inflation in the country.

On the other hand, the IMF wants to remove all controls on the dollar which will push its value to Rs250 to 275 but this will also increase exports and remittances.

The dispute has led to a deadlock in talks between the government and the IMF, which is unnerving investors.

Mian Zahid Hussain further said that the difference between the official price of the...