Current economic policies are not sustainable: Dr Shahid

Islamabad: Former President of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), Dr. Shahid Rasheed Butt, said on Wednesday that the current economic policies are not viable. He added that in the presence of unworkable policies, production and exports will stay the same, and the country will continue to borrow. Shahid Rasheed Butt said in a statement issued here today that for the next five years, the growth rate cannot go beyond four percent in any case. The business leader said that the ruling elite has targeted the urban middle class in the budget, so the troubled middle class is shrinking rapidly. He said a country could only progress with the middle class, the economy’s main driver. This time, too, the people have to swallow the bitter pill while the ruling elite has increased their expenses, and the influential sectors have also been kept out of the tax net, he observed. He said that in one year, more than 12 million people would go below the poverty line, while in two years, the majority of the country’s population would become extremely poor.. Staff Reporter