PBF demands new industrial policy

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Business Forum (PBF) urged the federal government on Thursday to declare 2024 as the year of exports and adopt a new industrial policy to boost the country's trade performance.

PBF vice president and chief organiser Ahmad Jawad said Pakistan's exports had risen to $2.8 billion per month in December 2023, but the country's capacity was only $3 billion per month.

"Our goal must be export-led growth to $8 billion per month through a new industrial policy under the SIFC framework," he said, referring to the Special Industrial Facilitation Cell, a government initiative to facilitate investment and industrialisation.

He said Pakistan could achieve $4 billion per month in exports with an effective mechanism and a competitive energy tariff for the export industry.

"As building Pakistan's industrial and commercial capacity for export-led growth to achieve a $100 billion export target in five years, the country needs a strong and vibrant business community working honestly for the well-being of Pakistan," he added.

Jawad also called for administrative measures to curb the demand for cash dollars in the market, which he said had led to the devaluation of the rupee.

He argued that the currency depreciation was dictated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) through prior actions and had nothing to do with macroeconomic fundamentals. Jawad said the monetary tightening and exchange rate depreciation had resulted in higher inflation, public debt and debt servicing.

"The empirical evidence showed that a one percent monetary tightening hiked the inflationary pressure by 1.3 percent in the case of Pakistan," he said.