Unnecessary departments, failed companies be closed: Mian Zahid Hussain - Press Release issued by Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum.

Karachi -- November 14, 2022 (PPI-OT)

Following is the text of press release issued by Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF)

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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 Monday said the government should reduce its expenses and close unnecessary departments and ministries to save the country from bankruptcy.

The government should also close down loss-making entities resulting in losses to the tune of trillions of rupees, he said. Mian Zahid Hussain said that 5.6% of the current expenditure is being spent on running the government alone, while for every one hundred rupees spent, fifty-two rupees are being spent on debt repayments, which is enough to bankrupt the country.

Talking to the business community, the veteran business leader said that the energy import bill has become a big problem for the government, the solution of which is foreign and private investment in this sector because the government companies have failed to maintain or increase production.

He said that from July to September 2022, the current expenditure of the central government was 1.832 trillion rupees, out of which 954 trillion rupees was spent on the repayment of local and foreign loans. This situation is weakening the economy and the rupee while the government has no option but to borrow to improve matters and there is no hope of improvement in production, exports, remittances, and investments.

Mian Zahid Hussain said that as resources dwindle, the government will have to take loans at high interest, an example of...