Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Saeed Ghani expressed concern over the silence on the shocking nosedive in country’s exports to the tune of Rs 500 billion over the past three years and feared that another massive financial scandal involving the Sharif brothers could be the reason, says a press release.
“If the Panama scandal and offshore companies are anything to go by, it would be no surprise that the Sharifs’ cartel is found to be involved in a scandal to syphon off 20% exports for personal profits,” the senator said.
He said that over the past three years, export earnings have declined by nearly 20 percent, falling from $25.1 billion to $20.8 billion.
The senator said that while Asif Ali Zardari was the president, he persuaded the European Union to award GSP-Plus status to Pakistan and hence allow zero duty on Pakistani exports to European countries. The EU finally approved Pakistan’s GSP-Plus status in 2013, but the Sharif government has almost completely failed to fully exploit the GSP-Plus facility with its lacklustre policy, indifference towards the export sector, and bizarre priorities.
Senator Saeed Ghani warned that such a drastic fall in exports would mean massive unemployment in the country.
“Loss of the staggering amount of Rs 500 billion in foreign exchange is a major jolt to our economy and its aftershocks could be very destructive. There is a great need to promote exports and capitalise on the hard-earned GSP-Plus status,” he added.
