Pakistan has become a highly
smuggling-prone economy. A range and variety of smuggled products of all sorts from
expensive automobiles, tyres, electronics goods as well as such daily use items as polish,
toileteries, cosmetics, perfumes, clothes, garments, edibles, cigarettes, even medicines
are easily available across retail outlets nationwide. PAGE highlights the
imbalance caused by massive smuggling regime on the local industry and imports at the
expense of national economy.
ECONOMIC PACKAGE
The much
awaited economic package, presented by the Chief Executive Gen. Pervez Musharraf may be
good for achieving the long term targets, but it has ignored the kitchen which is the most
immediate concern of the masses in Pakistan.
POL PRICES
The Government has once again succumbed to
IMF's pressure for a 10 per cent average increase in POL prices and thus has ignored its
multiplier effect on cost of industrial production and on prices as a whole in general.
It is not the IMF alone insisting to increase POL prices for releasing the loan but the
government's own interest is also there because the oil and gas sectors are used as a
major source of revenue.
SBP REPORT
Despite a horrible decline in GDP growth rate
in Pakistan's major economic sectors during past 4-5 years, the revenue collection on the
part of the government remains more or less same which indicates either the revenue
collectors have a magic lamp for retaining their position or the tax payers are the
hostage in this country.
