LAHORE: The business community on Saturday urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to replace Finance Minister Miftah Ismail to improve the deteriorating economic situation.

“The PM will have to take revolutionary measures by revisiting his economic team as the economy needs the right man for the right job,” Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) president Mian Nauman Kabir sought in a statement.

“We are of the view that economic scenario demands revolutionary measures. Therefore, a change in the economic team can bring the economy back on track,” he said.

He said the change in the economic team would help improve the socio-economic structure of the country as there is a dire need to set a direction in the larger interests of the country.

“There is an almost catastrophic deterioration in the macroeconomic situation that has had a profound adverse impact on growth rates, poverty incidence, unprecedented increase in inflation, especially food price inflation and confidence in Pakistan’s ability to manage crises and its future economic outlook that calls for wholesome measures to tackle the situation,” he added.

The LCCI chief said since interim reliefs might be necessary right now to continue, “this is the right time to start thinking of a long-term solution to our ills.”

“Like any successful corporate body, we must define our objectives clearly and should adopt long-term strategic plans to meet these objectives. The plan must be linked to the population growth for us to deduce how much food we require, the land needed to produce it, the schools needed to educate them, the jobs required to be created, their transportation and communication needs, hospitals to be built and so on,” he explained.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2022