ISLAMABAD: Lawmakers belonging to the ruling coalition on Thursday expressed concerns over the country’s economic situation and called upon financial managers to take tough decisions to overcome the crisis, while stressing the need for a charter of economy.

Speaking at a news conference, three lawmakers — PML-N’s Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh, PPP’s Ali Musa Gilani and dissident PTI lawmaker Dr Ramesh Vankwani — noted that the country was already under an economic emergency and urged Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to take all political parties into confidence over economic decisions before it was too late.

They stopped short of criticising their own party leaders and other state entities for the economic downturn. The MNAs also called for cutting state expenditures. However, on defence expenditure, Mr Sheikh said it was already low compared to India’s.

Mr Sheikh, who heads the National Assembly’s standing committee on finance, recalled that in May 2022 he had announced that the economy was in bad shape and the then finance minister Dr Miftah Ismail had to make a collective effort to prevent the situation from getting worse.

Ask finance minister to take all political parties into confidence over decisions

“Now, Dar sahib should do it before people, including businessmen and industrialists, also join a lawlessness campaign against the government,” he said.

He stressed that Pakistan needed a charter of economy without further delay and it was high time that all stakeholders should develop a consensus about the future economic course of action.

He said that due to the growing negative sentiments, the whole economic circle has started to move in the reverse, as people have started to send their remittances through hundi and hawala channels and many exporters were not even bringing their profits back home.

Mr Gilani also expressed dismay that no one was interested in giving due consideration to the national interest and noted that the country was facing an economic emergency.

Dr Vankwani, the PTI MNA who decided to remain in the National Assembly after other party lawmakers resigned en masse in April after a change in government, was vocal against almost everybody.

“It is wrong to say that things are okay, it is wrong to deceive the public and it is wrong to deceive oneself,” he said. “It was about time that Mr [Asif Ali] Zardari needed to come out and meet everybody.”

He also alleged that the central bank governor was misleading the whole nation. “Everybody is directionless. And most unfortunately, Dar sahib does not even come to the parliamentary committees. How can anybody extend help in this regard?”

To Dr Vankwani, the most serious aspect of the current crises was that it seemed like everyone, including institutions, was confused and didn’t have a solution.

“If we remain like this, we will end up like Sri Lanka sooner or later,” he said. “The fact is that neither the West nor the East wants to destabilise us. It is all our fault and we are continuing it, by allowing the import of luxury cars and not opening LCs [letters of credit] for food and medicines.”

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2023