Population explosion poses a threat to the economy: FPCCI

ISLAMABAD
Iftikhar Khan, the advisor to the President of FPCCI, said on Sunday that the highest population growth and the lowest GDP growth are the perfect recipe for disaster. He said that uncontrolled population growth amid low GDP growth is a serious challenge.
Speaking to the business community, he stated that Pakistan’s population is growing at the fastest rate in the region and will double by 2050. Iftikhar Khan said that with 241.49 million inhabitants, Pakistan is currently the sixth most populated nation in the world, according to the census statistics. Among them, 48.51 percent are women, and 51.48 percent are men.
He warned that if the country’s population continues at its current rate of 2.55 percent, the highest in the region, it will double by 2050, which will be very difficult to manage. Iftikhar Khan said that in Pakistan, 36.47 million individuals are under five years old, 97.53 million are under fifteen, 62.58 million are between the ages of fifteen and twenty-nine, and 190.27 million are under forty.
According to literacy indices, 61% of Pakistanis who are ten years of age or older are literate, but Bangladesh and India have achieved better than Pakistan in a number of areas, including education.
According to the business leader, Pakistanis are on par with everyone in terms of intelligence and ability, but if we do not broaden our horizons, we will not even be considered in the global competition. He underlined the necessity of maintaining political stability and peace, as well as the significance of maintaining policy consistency for a minimum of ten years.
Without keeping up with the world, we’ll become irrelevant, he warned. Commenting on the budget, he stated that the recent budget’s controversy stems from its failure to provide any relief to the middle class. Instead, it increased the effective income tax rate for salaried individuals to 39 percent, for associations to 44 percent, and for non-salaried individuals to 50 percent from last year.
At a time when this particular section of society has lost nearly half of its purchasing power in the last five years, the already stressed salaried class is facing an increase in taxes, which is difficult for the masses to accept. The budget, instead of bringing some respite for the have-nots from the undue inflation for which they are the least responsible, has once again added to their agony by imposing additional levies on electricity, petrol, diesel, grocery items, property, etc.
The major reason behind the surge in taxes is to secure a new deal with the International Monetary Fund to somehow keep the national economy afloat. The disastrous budget reveals the fault lines in the current power system, as the government consistently refuses to end the exemptions it grants to the bureaucracy.
Similarly, the government excludes the retail and agriculture sectors, which wield significant political sway, from tax imposition. The IMF’s insistence led to the removal of some exemptions, but the list of protections remains endless. Flawed policies are holding back the economy. We need a change that benefits the people at large, not just the privileged, he said.
Iftikhar Khan said that it is outright irrational to grind impoverished families under the weight of new taxes to secure an IMF package. In order to alleviate the burden on the poor, the government should also bring the rich and powerful into the tax net.
Moreover, the government should reflect on past events and draw lessons from them to understand why it is necessary for every government to seek assistance from the IMF each year to stabilise the struggling economy. Despite claims that the budget is public-friendly and an attempt to minimise hardships, it has severely impacted the poor and businesses.