ISLAMABAD
The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry’s Businessmen Panel (BMP), has welcomed the federal government’s initiative to formulate a credible post-IMF exit strategy but cautioned that without urgent, practical and export-focused reforms, Pakistan risks falling back into yet another International Monetary Fund programme.
FPCCI former president and BMP Chairman Mian Anjum Nisar said that the discussion initiated at the highest level must now translate into concrete, time-bound actions driven by strong coordination between the public and private sectors. Mian Anjum Nisar stated that Pakistan’s economic history clearly shows that stabilisation without structural transformation only provides temporary relief.
Unless exports are expanded aggressively, value chains are strengthened and foreign exchange buffers are built, the country will continue to face recurring balance-of-payments crises. He stressed that the warning issued by the Planning Commission regarding the possibility of slipping into another IMF programme should be taken as a serious national alarm.
Mian Anjum Nisar pointed out that Pakistan’s exports have grown only marginally over the past two decades, while regional competitors such as Vietnam have multiplied their exports many times over. This gap, he said, reflects not a lack of potential but weak policy execution, inconsistent reforms and the absence of a long-term export vision.
The BMP Chairman strongly endorsed the Planning Commission’s assessment that Pakistan must raise its exports to at least $63 billion by 2029 if it wants to make the current IMF programme its last. He said this target is ambitious but achievable if industrial policy, taxation, energy pricing and trade facilitation are aligned around a single objective: making Pakistani exports competitive in global markets.
He emphasised that industry-specific strategies, particularly for textiles, engineering goods, pharmaceuticals, IT services and agro-based products, must be developed and implemented with measurable outcomes.
Referring to projections that Pakistan may face an external financing requirement exceeding $12 billion during the 2028–31 period, Mian Anjum Nisar said the country cannot rely indefinitely on emergency financing. He supported the view that export growth, increased remittances, foreign direct investment and agriculture-based import substitution must collectively fill this gap.
He also backed the proposal to convert short-term bilateral loans into long-term financing, calling it a sensible step to ease immediate external pressure. However, he cautioned that debt restructuring alone will not solve Pakistan’s problems unless accompanied by productivity-enhancing reforms and improved investor confidence.
