Pakistan Needs Reforms to Improve Exports, Highlighted by World Bank
The World Bank suggested that Pakistan requires drastic reforms to improve export competitiveness, and it requires them at a fast pace. There is no doubt that Pakistan is suffering due to a lack of focus on exports, and there is minimal investment in exports. The Pakistani government is unable to find a solution for export relief and improvement. Moreover, the government is also unable to find solutions to compensate or even create a favorable export environment. This is all happening due to inconsistent policies of the FBR, including the IPP agreement, which led to high energy costs and circular debt. FBR is to be blamed for not generating tax alternatives; instead, it harasses taxpayers, exporters' refunds are stuck and other issues arise.
The government of Pakistan needs to resolve bottlenecks that can speed up the process to improve Pakistan's exports. For that, first, Pakistan will be required to resolve the high energy prices that have been highlighted by the World Bank. It says that Pakistan will be unable to compete in exports due to its high energy cost. Whereas, the IMF always demands to increase the prices of electricity because the government of Pakistan is unable to control circular debt and unable to stop electricity theft, and high line losses are one of the major reasons Pakistan is suffering from these issues. However, to resolve these issues, including the exchange rate, all the stakeholders must sit together and need to find a solution. Even countries like South Korea in the past were struggling to increase exports. However, all the stakeholders sat together, and they found the solution. Pakistan has a lot of potential; however, it requires reforms to fully utilize it.
