ISLAMABAD: All the mainstream political parties agreed on Thursday to the proposal that a charter of economy should be decided and made it the part larger economic agenda for the welfare of people of Pakistan.
The consensus was developed at a session on Charter of Economy: Moving towards a Consensus on Socio-economic Agenda on the concluding day 20th Sustainable Development Conference organized by Sustainable Development Policy Institute here.
ANP’s Former Senator Afrasiab Khattak said that the poverty rate in FATA is 73 per cent so if charter of economy is initiated, equal focus can be given on all districts.
PPP’s Nafeesa Shah, MNA, said that the state of privatization in the charter of economy needs to be monitored and it should be checked if privatization is a success or not.
PPP’s Syed Naveed Qamar, MNA, said that the current trade deficit is increasing and the Foreign Exchange Policy needs to be revised. Privatization is more a political than an economic decision so it is recommended that privatization should be done in the first year of elections, he said.
Haroon Sharif from the World Bank suggested to merge ministries and suggested as to how decisions should be made in a volatile country like Pakistan.
PTI’s Senator Shibli Faraz said that the privatization model needs to be revised. Pakistan has only 5% of its trade with the region and more focus on flow of foreign exchange is imperative for the democratic government.
Rana Afzal, MNA, said that Pakistan is providing cheapest petroleum in the region and two energy plants have been installed to improve the energy crisis.
Senator Noman Wazir said that state-owned enterprises can only work if there is zero political involvement at micro level.
Advisor to PM on Finance Miftah Ismail said that the allegations against privatization are not fair as only 49% company ownership can be privatized. Better Privatization models should be adopted so that more profits are generated, he added.
Dr. Abid Q. Suleri, Executive Director SDPI, earlier said that this dialogue would be continued in future so that our political leadership may reach on consensus on other important aspects of our national economy as well.
Earlier speaking at a session on The Role of Social Protection in Eradicating Poverty: Policy and Practices, SDPI’s Dr Shehryar Toru said people lack information about social protection programmes and out of 27 SPPs, two programmes, according to his study, are majorly known such as BISP (85%) and PMNHP (93%) in the Punjab and BISP (98%) and PMNHP (18%) in KP.
Sa’ad Gillani from ILO conveyed the global consensus on the development of productive workforce without which economies cannot develop and grow. He suggested that access to social health protection and education improves productivity levels and has a positive impact on growth.
Zafar-ul-Hassan from Ministry of Planning, Development and Reforms said that National Social Protection Framework provides basic guidelines to implement SDGs. He said the Punjab is leading by having Social Protection Authority (SPA), KP is in process of establishing SPA, Sindh has yet to implement the policy, whereas Balochistan does not have any social protection policy.
To a question Sohail Chaudary from Punjab Social Protection Authority said that they have adopted a life cycle approach to social protection. A programme for disabled persons has already been started to support the lowest-income in the Punjab through a monthly cash assistance of Rs 1,200/- per month to be paid quarterly.
