ISLAMABAD, June 2: Speakers at a conference here on Monday stressed the need for steps that provided maximum relief to the poor in the forthcoming budget and called for cut in unnecessary expenditures.

They took stock of the uncontrolled rise in prices of commodities of daily use items as well as the energy crisis in the country, and said urgent steps were needed to reverse the trend.

The speakers wondered how different crises gripped the country all of a sudden, and suggested inclusion of experts for framing of proper policies.

The conference — Socio-economic Challenges faced by Pakistan — had been organised by the International Islamic University (IIU). Leading economists and social scientists from different institutions and government departments participated in the conference and presented their research papers.

Former finance minister Sartaj Aziz was of the view that lack of proper implementation of different policies created problems.

He stressed on devolution of power and strengthening and empowering provincial governments so that they could effectively implement different policies according to their needs and prevailing circumstances.

He said centralisation of powers created hurdles in the implementation of policies and resulted in the weakening of institutions.

The PML-N leader stressed the coalition government should provide meaningful relief to the poor. Necessary steps should be taken to control fiscal deficit, check luxury imports and plan for structural change, he suggested.

He said institutions should be strengthened to enable them properly implement policies in the larger interests of the people.

IIU Rector Dr Manzoor Ahmad mentioned the grave problems the country had been facing and said there was a need to come up with solid and feasible solutions.

“There is no excuse and we can find no way to escape,” he said, and stressed “something concrete” to solve the multi- faceted problems being faced by the poor.

He hoped the conference participants would arrive at meaningful proposals which could be used by the policymakers to take decisions for providing relief to the common man.

Dr Arshad Zaman, former chief economist of the Pakistan government, described three major problems confronting the new government.

According to him, the continuing uncertain situation in the country has been paralysing economic decision making; the spectacular rise in oil prices; and weak economy due to low investment, exports and production capacity.

He stressed on ending the uncertainty so that people’s confidence is restored. This will enable the government to initiate steps for financial stability and for gearing up economic activity in the country.

Dr Zaman stressed on increasing subsidy for the poor through institutions like the Baitul Mal, Zakat system and utility stores to provide some relief to the lower sections of the population.

Another speaker, Dr Pervez Tahir of the Government College (GC) University, Lahore, said Pakistan’s economy was once again at the crossroads after the coming into power of a democratic government.

“Eight years of relentless pursuit of growth has benefited the elite and the largest province but marginalised smaller provinces and pushed a large segment of population into abject poverty,” he said. The claims of macroeconomic stability have turned out to be false, he added.

He also criticised the prime minister’s 100-day programme, saying it fell short of providing the much needed relief. He termed it populist.

“With high fiscal, current account deficit and soaring inflation, the coalition is being misled towards prescribing more of the same, i.e. macroeconomic fundamentalism,” he said. The professor stressed a pro-poor budget.

IIU President Dr Anwar Hussain Siddiqui and prominent economists Dr Kaisar Bengali, Dr Saboor Ghayur and others also spoke at the conference.