Business Recorder
KARACHI: Mian Zahid Hussain, President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum & All Karachi Industrial Alliance, Chairman National Business Group Pakistan and Chairman Policy Advisory Board FPCCI, has emphasised that the time has now come to transform Pakistan’s defense strength and diplomatic achievements into complete economic stability, as true national security is impossible without financial self-reliance. Reflecting on the economic landscape, Hussain expressed deep concern that despite being a nuclear power, Pakistan continues to face fiscal imbalances and economic weaknesses. “While current macroeconomic stabilisation efforts have shown some progress, pushing foreign exchange reserves to USD22.58 billion, keeping GDP growth around 3.7 percent, and bringing the central bank’s policy rate down from 22 percent to 11.5 percent, the foundation of the economy remains fragile.” He pointed out that due to a revenue collection shortfall of Rs800 billion, the fiscal deficit is feared to reach nearly 5.8 percent of GDP, while the public debt-to-GDP ratio continues to fluctuate between 70 and 80 percent. He added that debt servicing consumes almost two-third of the government’s total revenues, leaving negligible fiscal space for development projects. Outlining the way forward, Mian Zahid urged the government to adopt strict fiscal discipline in the upcoming federal budget, expand the tax net to undocumented sectors, and reduce the burden on existing taxpayers and industries. He said that the focus of national policy must shift toward structural reforms, digitalisation of economy, improvement of energy sector, and creation of a favourable environment for foreign investment. He concluded that the same spirit, national unity, and strong political will as demonstrated on May 28, 1998, and May 10, 2025, must now be directed toward economic revival and national development so that Pakistan’s economic strength can become as invincible as its defense capability. Mian Zahid said that the foundation of Pakistan’s nuclear program was laid by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, and it was later carried forward and brought to completion by successive governments. He said that after achieving nuclear capability and strengthening its missile program, Pakistan once again demonstrated its military strength last year on May 10 under the leadership of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir. Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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