21 August 2004	Saturday	04 Rajab 1425

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ISLAMABAD, Aug 20: The National Assembly was informed on Friday that the country's economy had been suffering an annual loss of Rs662 billion on various accounts.

Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz provided a written reply to a question put up by MNA Riaz Fatiana who wanted to know whether the economy had been suffering a Rs665 billion loss because of absence of quality control standards.

Mr Aziz, in his capacity as the minister for planning and development, informed the house that the planning commission in an in-house study had estimated that "Pakistan's economy suffers a loss of about Rs662 billion on various accounts."

Details show that in the agriculture sector the loss is due to post-harvest losses of crops, leakage of canal water because of kutcha water-courses, theft of forest wood, cutting of trees and non-provision of medical and veterinary facilities to rural areas which causes damage to livestock and poultry.

The loss suffered in the manufacturing sector was attributed to investment in the industries that are protected under high tariff regime, low productivity and under-capacity utilization.

The house was informed that mal-nutrition resulted in the birth of under-weight children, mental retardation and diseases relating to iron and iodine deficiency which were responsible for the losses in the health sector.

The government said that environmental degradation affected the economy in many ways, like water-borne infection, parasitic diseases and diseases caused by hazardous air and sea pollution.

Inefficient functioning of the transport sector was identified as a major contributing factor in annual losses to the economy. The house was informed that provincial governments were taking steps to reduce post-harvest losses, and conservation of water and forest. Incentives were provided to the agriculture sector.