ISLAMABAD: Despite efforts by the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) to boost investment, the country’s investment trend has declined and the investment rate has reached its lowest level in the last 50 years.
According to the figures approved by the National Accounts Committee, investment in the country during the last financial year was 13.1 percent of the GDP, which shows that SAFAC alone cannot do anything, unless all of the country is involved. Unless the economic fundamentals are correct and political stability is not achieved, the desired investment targets will not be achieved, official figures show a per capita income of $1674 per person.
The investment-savings ratio has also fallen short of the desired targets, which has led to a crisis in the external sector. In 1973-74, the rate of investment was seen at 13.2 percent.
Sources say that during the ongoing negotiations, the IMF has also questioned Pakistan regarding its investment targets. Continuous changes in tax policies and biased attitude towards the manufacturing sector have reduced investment in the manufacturing sector. Domestic production has reached its lowest level, the other side of the decline in investment is that it has reduced the government’s ability to use its own resources to reform infrastructure and social structure, thereby making the government dependent on debt. will increase further.
