IMF conditions suppress growth: industry leaders

Extending a cautious welcome to the Staff-Level Agreement, the business community believes that the time has come to generate more resources to boost trade and industry instead of approaching the International Monetary Fund (IMF) again in April next year. Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh said the business community stood by the government to surpass its revenue generation target despite all odds — and, above all, the unbearable cost of doing business in the wake of higher electricity, gas and petroleum prices. He, nonetheless, reiterated FPCCI’s stance that Pakistan must embark on a tangible, pragmatic and business-friendly plan to get rid of the IMF and its unnecessary and ruthless conditionality which evaporates any possibility of business and economic growth. Pakistan can generate more resources by boosting trade and industry than knocking at the doors of the IMF again in April 2024 after the completion of the ongoing 9-month $3bn Stand-By Agreement in March 2024.