overall situation is unrelated to the Udaan Pakistan program: What’s the truth behind the claims?"
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00:00Mr. Bukhari, I would like to take your view on this.
00:03The government has set a target of 60 billion dollars.
00:06Is this a realistic target that you are seeing?
00:10Yes, thank you very much.
00:1260 billion dollar exports.
00:15To reach there or to reach more than that,
00:19good things have happened in the past as well.
00:22In the era of the previous government,
00:24in 2021, we heard that in the next 5 years,
00:27the IT exports of Pakistan will reach 25 billion dollars.
00:32And after that, the announcement of 50 billion dollars was made.
00:35But we don't see that far and wide.
00:38At this time, the overall situation,
00:42it is a pity that it is flying away from Pakistan,
00:46but it has no connection far and wide.
00:48For example, the overall growth rate is 6%.
00:54At this time, it is very difficult for us to reach 3%.
01:00I have seen 0.98% of the declared growth rate.
01:03If it is 3%, then your population has increased by 3% or 2.5% every year.
01:11So, in a way, it is almost impossible.
01:14In other things that have been said,
01:16the biggest economic crisis in Pakistan in the past year
01:21has been due to the policy failure of this government.
01:24It is in the field of agriculture.
01:27And the way the government did not harvest our last wheat crop,
01:32despite the fact that a support price was announced earlier,
01:36as a result, your farmers were shocked.
01:39Now, this year, we have to see how much wheat crop is there,
01:44what comes out in the next crop.
01:46There is a lot of trouble in Potwar these days,
01:48even about dry season.
01:49So, this is a result of climate change.
01:52So, the real situation on the ground,
01:55there is a huge gap between that and these big announcements.
02:01Now, the Prime Minister did an event,
02:04made a good announcement there.
02:06If you look at the history of Pakistan,
02:08different governments have done this in the past as well,
02:11that big promises have been made.
02:13But is it realistic in terms of agriculture?
02:18Is it based on facts or not?
02:21The facts of Pakistan are very different at the moment.
02:24Now, there was another news in these days,
02:26and anyway, a dispute has arisen,
02:28that the government is talking about pension reforms.
02:32You must have heard that it is also related to the economy.
02:35But I think that is also a controversial step,
02:39because in the country's length and breadth,
02:42the nobilities, the big influential people,
02:45who have given very little tax in the history of Pakistan,
02:49or they don't give tax,
02:50until they don't get a hard blow,
02:53you will only get pensioners in this country,
02:56to target them,
02:57from there you will get their wishes,
03:02or their returns.
03:04So, you are talking about misplaced priorities.
03:06But there must be some good things in this plan.
03:09These announcements are very good.
03:10The announcements are all very good.
03:12But behind every announcement,
03:14the question is,
03:15that in the next five years,
03:17without any fundamental changes,
03:20and see, Pakistan…
03:21But the intention that the government has shown,
03:24you don't take it seriously,
03:27what is the intention?
03:28See, you will have a good intention,
03:30I also have a good intention.
03:31Okay, the intention is very good,
03:33but the situation,
03:34whether the government can solve the problems,
03:37which are facing the country,
03:40and take Pakistan forward,
03:43this is a big question.
03:45And then,
03:46in the last year,
03:48there has been a controversy,
03:51regarding political issues,
03:53that is also a big factor.
03:55So, there is this kind of uncertainty,
03:57then your policies are such,
03:59which are not related to those facts,
04:02which you actually see here,
04:06then you have made mistakes,
04:08in terms of farm incomes,
04:10the biggest crash of wheat prices,
04:13that was a failure of the government's policy.
04:16So, in this context,
04:18the first thing that is needed is,
04:20that the government should talk about their failures,
04:24and try to rectify them.
04:27If you want to improve the tax system,
04:29then it's okay,
04:30you can put your hand on big people.
04:32With IMF,
04:33in the commitments,
04:34you have heard that,
04:37for the first time in Pakistan,
04:39an effective farm tax will be imposed.
04:42Right.
04:43But till now,
04:44the news is about legislation,
04:46but after that,
04:48you have to build a strong system.
04:51So, there is a lot of demand,
04:53as a political commentator,
04:54we can see this more.
04:55There are issues of capacity,
04:56issues of intention,
04:57and also issues of implementation.
04:59Thank you both very much for this night.