Amnesty only solution for revival of economy: Dr. Hussain Mohiuddin Qadri
By Attaul Mujeeb Zeeshan
Lahore
According to the sources of Daily Notable, Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors, Minhaj University Professor Dr. Hussain Mohiuddin Qadri said that according to the IMF, Pakistan currently needs seven billion dollars to avoid insolvency.
He was speaking at an awareness session on Islamic economic and prevailing challenges of Pakistan at Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry. LCCI President Kashif Anwar, Senior Vice President Chaudhry Zafar Mahmood and Vice President Adnan Khalid Butt also spoke on the occasion.
Hussain Mohiuddin Qadri said that in the next three years, Pakistan will have to pay back $75 billion, which does not appear to be in any way. He said that Pakistan is one of the poorest countries in the world. There are two types of poverty rates, including the lower-middle-income poverty rate and the middle-income poverty rate.
He said 39.3% of lower middle income earners earning $3 a day are currently covered. He said upper middle income poverty people earn US$5 per day. He said if lower middle and upper middle income people are combined, then about 78% of the population earns less than Rs. 40,000 per month while 22% segments earn more than Rs. 40,000.
He said that according to a September 2021 government report, 22 percent of people earn $13 per month in Pakistan. The devastation caused by recent floods has increased this dose even further. He said India has lifted 415 million people out of poverty between 2006 and 2021. According to the 2016 and 2017 Bangladesh National Poverty figures, only 24 percent of people in the entire country were below the poverty line.
He added that every poor country is on the road to improvement and working to lift its population above the poverty line, except Pakistan where people are getting poorer every year. He said that in the last three years, unemployment in Pakistan has been increasing continuously. According to the national public debt, Pakistan owed 54 trillion rupees by March 2022. According to the Economist, each country can borrow up to 60% of its GDP, while Pakistan borrowed 80% of its GDP. He feared that Pakistan’s public debt would reach $138 billion by the end of 2023.
He said that according to the Network Readiness Report which compares technologies; people, impact of politics and other such factors, analyzed 131 countries and ranked Pakistan 89th. It means that 88 countries are better than Pakistan in these factors.
He said that even a decade ago, the economic data of Pakistan was included in the list of South Asian countries. While today the economic figures of Pakistan are included in the list of the poorest countries in Africa and so on. That’s the progress we’ve made over the past few decades. He said international surveys indicate that Pakistan’s overall physical growth will be negative in the near future. While general inflation will increase by 23%. He said that Pakistan is ranked 140th in the list of 180 countries in terms of corruption.
He said that exports have been steadily declining for the past few years, except for 2021. Similarly, imports are at $52 billion in 2019 to $69 billion in 2021, making the trade deficit steadily widening. There is no way to reduce it. Compared to us, India-Bangladesh saw an increase in exports.
He said that foreign investment in Pakistan has been declining for the last three years. This is because of the lack of ease of doing business in Pakistan. According to a survey of 190 countries, Pakistan ranks 108th in ease of doing business, while India ranks 63rd. Literacy rate in Pakistan is 62% which is more than our country in all regional countries.
For the last four years, there is a serious crisis of water purity in Pakistan. Pollution is increasing day by day. According to estimates, gases emanating from landfills in Lahore create pollution equal to several billion liters of diesel.
He said that Pakistan’s green areas are being converted into construction areas. In the next few years, due to deforestation, Pakistan faces even more devastating floods than the current ones. Pakistan is fourth in the list of defaulting countries in the world. The only solution would be for Pakistan to sell its assets.
Islam says to go into debt when it is difficult for you to survive. Islamic economics is the teaching system of the Holy Prophet. Our Islamic banks also think that they have adopted Islamic economics, but they are not. Islamic economy is the name of the change in the business system. Islamic economics is about finding a balance between limited resources and limited needs.
He said that if we reduced our spending today and reduced our spending in the 1990s, our resources would increase and we would not have to face the problems created by simply fulfilling our desires.
LCCI President Kashif Anwar said that today the economy is going down day by day. To date, we have not been able to get rid of the system of interest. Unemployment in the country is at its peak. People don’t get jobs.
He said more than 8,000 containers were stuck at the ports. Although we are an agricultural country, we have to import bales of cotton because we have converted our green spaces into housing estates. Water is a huge problem in Pakistan.
Either we don’t have water or there is a flood. Because we didn’t build dams and reservoirs and we wasted this white gold. The floods caused thirty billion dollars in damage and destroyed livestock, infrastructure, homes and human lives. It shouldn’t be hopeless, but the best is not in sight.
LCCI President Kashif Anwar said that Islam is a complete code of life and provides complete guidance and plan of action in every sphere and every aspect of life. He said that the problems and difficulties that our country’s economy is currently facing, if we promote Islamic teachings and Islamic livelihood system, the country will not only overcome these challenges but can also become a model economy in the world.
He added that our beloved country has all the resources and blessings that can make it a great economic power. The only requirement is to determine the correct direction.
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