KARACHI, May 16: Business leaders want holding of an all parties’ conference to work out a consensus financial/business package for the next budget.

Withdrawal of nine ministers of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz from the federal cabinet has added to the worries of businessmen who again fear beginning of a long un-ending period of hostilities between major political parties which would spoil business environment in the country.

“Once politicians agree on the outlines of next year’s budgetary package, they can talk with business,’’ a leading industrialist suggested.

With hardly two to three weeks left for the announcement of the budget, businessmen complain that the government has not yet consulted them formally at any level on budgetary matters.

“A consensus budgetary package for 2008-09 will carry moral weight and prove a cushion against a possible harsh backlash from any quarter,’’ said Site Association of Industry Chairman Nisar Sheikhani.

Businessmen who represent top business houses have been meeting government at various levels, but in their individual capacities while established trade and industries bodies have largely been ignored.

Majyd Aziz, a former president of Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, acknowledges the hard task ahead for the government in the preparation of a budget for the next fiscal year.

“The domestic and international economic and business environment has never been so inhospitable as this is now.”

The government has little choice but it has to take some very hard and unpleasant decisions to take the country out of this economic mire.

This is sort of a consensus of the business community who now wants to give their input in the budgetary package so that everyone owns it.

Majyd Aziz recalled that trade bodies have been advocating a national political consensus on business and economic issues for long.

“The business in the country should go on as usual even if there are conflicting views on political issues and governments are made and un-made in the assemblies,’’ he said.

Business leaders in chambers, trade associations and in trade enclaves, like Jodia Bazaar, Cloth Market and other places seem to be in consensus with Majyd Aziz.

What is worrying businessmen is the possibility of harsh reaction from those political parties who are not represented in the National Assembly on the hard and unpleasant measures likely to be taken in the next budget.

A senior business leader recalls that “never before in the history of the country, Pakistan’s budget was prepared in such a situation when there is an unprecedented fiscal deficit and external imbalance”.

This top corporate leader has remained in touch with almost all successive governments in Islamabad and has also met the new leadership, but as a formality rather than brain-storming.

“Imagine, the fiscal deficit is somewhere around nine per cent and external account imbalance is too in double digits,’’ he said to point out how difficult it would be for the government to prepare a consensus budget for 2008-09.

International oil prices touched peak exceeding 127 dollars a barrel on Friday, the SPI-based inflation registered a sharp growth of 17.2 per cent in April (the highest increase in the last several decades) to quote an official economic update and food inflation went up as high as 25.6 per cent.

The market is abuzz with rumors of heavy capital outflow, mostly to Dubai for investment in real estate.

Havala business picked up considerably in the middle of April,’’ confided a foreign exchange currency operator.

Foreign currency market analysts say that with a considerable draw down of foreign exchange reserves, the State Bank of Pakistan is losing capacity to intervene.

On Thursday, the Standard and Poor’s cut Pakistan’s sovereign rating to B from B+ and currency rating to BB-from BB. It was done in view of mounting pressure of expanding fiscal and external imbalances.

There have been a few good indications from the government even in this extreme dismal business and economic environment.

The government has expressed its intention to give all attention to manufacturing and agriculture. Only a day before there was a news that government will address the industrial sickness issue and take steps to revive the dead and partially dead industrial units.

The government is understood to be giving a hard look at the entire taxation regime to make it progressive and direct.

“All these intentions are noble and have given us tremendous confidence,’’ said Majyd Aziz but added that business community wants to be a part of budget-making process and own all the policies that will come.