Islamabad
\nThe Employer\u2019s Federation of Pakistan (EFP), while appreciating the Government of Pakistan\u2019s decision to ban imports of various items and non- essential luxury goods under the \u2018Emergency economic plan\u2019, said that the banned items include mobile phones, automobiles, headphones and speakers, etc.
\nThis measure, although may be against public interests, is crucial for Pakistan to prosper.
\nThe country\u2019s economic situation has reached an alarming level where our forex reserves are depleting at an accelerated rate and our imports are ever increasing.
\nThe country has been stuck in a debt spiral where interest payments would lead to a huge outflow in our forex reserves, because of which the country would need to take on more debt. The government\u2019s decision to ban imports on various items will help ease pressure on our forex reserves and thus lead to an improvement in Pakistan\u2019s Balance of Payments position.
\nThe president of the Employer\u2019s Federation of Pakistan (EFP), Ismail Suttar, believes that this is a welcome decision by the government to curb non-essential imports.
\n\u201cThis decision by the Government of Pakistan to ban imports is for the betterment of our country\u2019s economic situation and deteriorating BOP position. EFP would like to thank the Government of Pakistan for listening to EFP\u2019s advice on taking strict and sometimes unpopular measures for the greater good of the nation\u201d he said.
\nIsmail Suttar added that the EFP believes that this import ban should extend to all non-essential\/ luxury imports. With the US Dollar crossing the PKR 200 mark, imports have become as expensive as ever. As a result, a ban on all non-essential\/luxury goods will help accelerate a recovery of Pakistan\u2019s BOP position.
\nThis decision would also help increase employment within the country and increase demand for local goods.
\n\u201cThe government needs to take several more unpopular decisions to save the country from economic turmoil. For example, the government needs to introduce strict measures to control the import of fuel\/energy related products. Pakistan\u2019s energy imports have been on the rise and have a major impact on our foreign reserves as the country is heavily dependent on imported energy. Thus, measures to curb energy\/fuel imports will greatly help in Pakistan\u2019s BOP recovery\u201d, he said.
\nInstead of paying for imports of non-essential\/luxury goods through servicing more debt, the government\u2019s ban on imports will help to provide much needed relief to our foreign reserves. Ismail Suttar further stated, \u201cThe government\u2019s decision to implement these measures is the need of the hour, however more measures are needed to pull us out of this economic crisis. With proper measures and policies, Pakistan is a country that has the potential to showcase itself as a progressive economic power in the South Asian region\u201d.
\nThe Government needs to act quickly as without proper implementation of strict measures, the efforts for economic revival will go in vain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Islamabad The Employer\u2019s Federation of Pakistan (EFP), while appreciating the Government of Pakistan\u2019s decision to ban imports of various items and non- essential luxury goods under the \u2018Emergency economic plan\u2019, said that the banned items include mobile phones, automobiles, headphones and speakers, etc. This measure, although may be against public interests, is crucial for Pakistan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261755,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[5262,4395,222,7509],"class_list":{"0":"post-261737","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-economic-revival","9":"tag-efp","10":"tag-government","11":"tag-measures"},"yoast_head":"\n