President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF), Mian Zahid Hussain has said that policy of getting loans to repay old loans and preferring borrowing over exports has not only damaged economy but also the sovereignty, therefore, the policy should be reviewed.

He said devaluation and other steps may result in an increase of $4 billion in the total exports. However, the entire imports for the ongoing fiscal year may jump by $8 billion resulting in a wide deficit and more problems for the economic managers, he said. Last year's exports stood at $20 billion while imports were at $52 billion, he added.

The veteran business leader said that Pakistan's total exports were around $20 billion for the last fiscal while Bangladesh fetched $28 billion on the account of garments only. The government should stop getting costly loans and bring down the price of energy for the export sector otherwise Pakistani products would be soon wiped off from the international market, he warned.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2017