Govt’s economic performance dismal: traders

Lahore: The Government’s economic policies have failed to produce people’s friendly results as it has admitted that food cost has increased by 130 per cent since 2005-2006 to 2011-2012, a business leader said Tuesday.

The wheat prices rose by 128 per cent, sugar161 per cent, pulses194 per cent, vegetable ghee151 per cent and meat by158 per cent during this period, said Malik Sohail Hussain, Chairman Media, Diplomatic Affairs and PR.

Speaking to business community, he said that economic mismanagement is so rampant that bogus companies owned by influential received Rs 63 billion as refund and illegal tax input adjustments during just first four months of the current fiscal.

At one hand people’s life has become economically unbearable while on the other terrorism is increasing of which the most recent example is the killing of Bashir Ahmad Bilour, Senior Minister of Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa, he said.

Malik Sohail said that army is doing best to check militancy and insurgency. It is doing whatever asked to do to assist the nation and the government while it has lost four thousand soldiers and officers.

He said that renewing the Lal Masjid issue can disturb the military strategy against militancy as refusal by personnel serving in various insurgency-hit areas can compromise army’s ability to defend country from threats.

Questioning soldiers will open up floodgate for chaos as they are trained to obey orders and sacrifice for the defence of motherland. Armed forces are serving in life threatening environment in Siachen, against TTP and Balochistan, he said.

National business leaders Tariq Sayeed, Iftikhar Ali Malik and Munawar Mughal of ICCI have always acknowledged the sacrifices by army from top to bottom, he said adding that business community has always paid tribute to those who laid down their lives in defence of motherland, said Sohail.