Spokesman Report
Islamabad: Muhammad Hanif Mughal, Chairman of , said on Thursday that politically connected exporters are causing irreparable damage to the country’s economy and the people.
He said that, after taking billions of dollars in concessions every year, exporters earn foreign exchange as much as Pakistani expatriates do, which does not cost the government anything.
Exporters neither upgrade machinery nor add value to their products. They do not invest in employee training to enhance their skills, as they depend on incentives.
In a statement issued here, Dr. Hanif Mughal said that some exporters use their influence to get currency devalued to fill their coffers. This practice is destroying the economy and making the lives of the commoners difficult, he observed.
He said that even now, the dollar’s value is at most 250 rupees, but no one in power dares to stabilize the exchange rate to give some relief to the people.
If the dollar becomes cheaper at 28 rupees, inflation will fall drastically, which is unacceptable to the greedy exporters who are only concerned about profits.
According to Dr. Hanif Mughal, the general industry receives billions of rupees in relief as hundreds of influential individuals have registered their industries as export industries.
Many industrial units have nothing to do with exports, and they sell their produce in cash in the local market, so there is no record of sale. He explained that hundreds of mills earning billions of rupees show a profit of only a few million.
He said that the tax authorities remain silent due to the political influence of such millers or mutually beneficial relations.
The government can save billions of rupees if the export status given to the general industry is withdrawn. Still, it is only possible when rulers are ready to sacrifice some political interests.
He said that those who have been looting the country for decades do not deserve an annual subsidy of 2600 billion rupees at a time when the masses are unable to get food to the table and the country’s survival is at stake.
He asked, “How can the government prefer a few hundred fraudsters over 250 million people?”
