He cited the reluctance of the large scale manufacturing industries to provide data in respect of their operational results such as sales income, production, cost of production, number of employees enrolled in the establishment, expenditure involving salaries and wages, etc.
He was of the view that the managements of these industries entertained apprehensions that the figures provided to FBS could be passed on to the CBR and taxation departments and that is why they were hesitant to co-operate with the FBS.
It is true that business and industrial establishments usually maintain two types of account books, of which one contains true information about their operations while the other is tailored to the objective of reporting to taxation departments.
This practice may not be feasible to adopt for those establishments which are registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan. These include public and private limited companies whose balance sheets, including profit and loss account, are available with the SECP and registrar of joint stock companies, from where the desired statistics about their operations may be collected by any interested person.
Most of the large scale manufacturing industries, other business enterprises and financing companies are listed on the Stock Exchange and their number exceeds 700. The number of private limited companies runs into thousands whose audited balance sheets are also available.
Thus it may be assumed that the Federal Bureau of Statistics should not encounter difficulties which cannot be overcome in the compilation and reporting of the desired data about these groups of companies which are not expected to maintain two sets of information, one for their own use and the other for reporting to the taxation departments.
It may be pointed out here that the entire economic activity in the developed countries of the world is strictly planned in the light of the statistics and data on various aspects of the economy.
The demand and supply position of a large number of consumer goods, periodic trends in retail sales, employment figures indicating percentage of workers remaining unemployed, exports, imports and a large number of other essential aspects are readily available from the concerned specialised agencies, besides the compilation by individual companies for their own guidance.
In the present day world when the information technology is making rapid strides with the use of computers in practically all spheres of economic activity, the availability of all types of statistics on the websites, has become a common place. In this context, complaints in Pakistan that the correct statistics cannot be compiled even about the leading establishments of business and industry, would indicate a highly deplorable state of affairs.
The earlier this lacuna is overcome the better it will be in the interest of promotion of business and industrial investments on the most modern lines without which Pakistan will continue to lag far behind others in this competitive scenario of globalisation in international trade and flow of capital from one end to the other end of the world.
A participant in the workshop reportedly complained that the statistics supplied by the FBS are generally of secondary value due to the fact that the agency's publications carry out-dated data with a time lag of over 45 days. He also complained about the non-availability of important business data like the exports of leather goods.
This shows the shortcomings in the existing framework of information collection and reporting by the FBS. It was rightly suggested by the participants in the workshop that the FBS should make available statistical information through the website and by supplying CDs, which is the electronic mode of feeding information at a speedy pace. To this end, the FBS may be given the status of an autonomous institution with powers to reorganise its own operations relating to collection, compilation and reporting of essential economic data and information to the users at large.
This will enable the FBS to manage its own budgetary allocations for the expansion of its operational scope without limitations which are usually imposed by the Ministry of Finance.