ISLAMABAD, Nov 06 (APP):Top Pakistani leaders and economic experts have sought pro-people reforms, empowered local governments, progressive tax structures, and deep governance overhauls to make a sustained and just economic growth in the country. The demand was made at a high-level dialogue, titled: ‘Reforms for Growth in Pakistan: From Priorities to Delivery,’ on the occasion of 29 Sustainable Development Conference organized by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) in collaboration …
Leaders & economists say pro-people reforms, fair taxation and empowered LGs vital for growth
ISLAMABAD, Nov 06 (APP):Top Pakistani leaders and economic experts have sought pro-people reforms, empowered local governments, progressive tax structures, and deep governance overhauls to make a sustained and just economic growth in the country.
The demand was made at a high-level dialogue, titled: ‘Reforms for Growth in Pakistan: From Priorities to Delivery,’ on the occasion of 29 Sustainable Development Conference organized by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) in collaboration with Foreign Commonwealth Organization Office, here.
Speaking on the occasion, Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan said meaningful reform must begin with adherence to the Constitution, the rule of law and the authority of elected representatives. He said unpredictable governance, political victimization and excessive regulation had discouraged investment, whereas education and public services remained neglected.
The Chairman of National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue Syed Naveed Qamar called for an approach that combined fiscal discipline with political consensus and meaningful consultation.
He said expenditure pressures, debt servicing and the narrow tax base could not be addressed through isolated measures, questioning why the Council of Common Interests (CCI) was not being used more effectively for matters involving the federation and provinces.
The Chaiman of National Assembly Standing Committee on Privatization Dr Farooq Sattar said 18th Amendment and the National Finance Commission (NFC) award had strengthened provinces without ensuring a comparable transfer of powers and resources to districts. He called for elected and
fiscally empowered local governments, predictable district allocations and stronger participation in local economic planning.
He suggested considering district financing under the NFC’s constitutional remit, alongside Provincial Finance Commission mechanisms, and advocated a longer-term, cross-party development consensus and possible new administrative units.
Former finance minister and Secretary-General of Awaam Pakistan party Dr Miftah Ismail stressed that better education, healthcare and the quality of provincial expenditure are essential to growth. He called for reconsidering electricity’s fixed and variable cost structure, including a two-part tariff, and said a durable exit from IMF dependence would require lower fiscal and external deficits and stronger export earnings rather than optimistic deadlines.
Former federal minister Engr. Khurram Dastagir Khan said manufacturers in industrial centres such as Gujranwala were deterred from expansion by burdensome tax administration, costly electricity and gas, and the expense of regulatory compliance. He identified technology, transparency and competition as necessary principles, including an end to monopoly arrangements.
Former finance minister Asad Umar said Pakistan would not achieve sustainable growth or move beyond repeated IMF arrangements without reducing deficits and building an export-competitive economy. He argued that an effective state was essential, but responsibilities, authority and accountability needed to rest together.
Former federal minister for maritime affairs Syed Ali Haider Zaidi argued that raising tax rates was no substitute for controlling the state’s costs and eliminating institutional inefficiencies.
Muzzammil Aslam, former adviser to the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on finance, highlighted tax exemptions, particularly in property, agriculture and other revenue categories, as constraints on broadening collections.
Recalling provincial revenue reforms, he said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s own-source revenue had risen from about Rs65 billion to Rs150 billion while rates were reduced and transactions were increasingly digitized.
Former finance minister Prof. Dr Hafiz Ahmed Pasha urged comprehensive and progressive tax reform, saying salaried employees and large-scale manufacturers were disproportionately taxed while property, retail and wholesale trade, and agricultural incomes remained undertaxed. He estimated a more equitable tax base could mobilize an additional 3 – 3.5 % of GDP and create fiscal space for development spending and lower borrowing.
Dr. Kaiser Bengali, former adviser to the chief minister of Sindh, differed on the priority, identifying the budget, trade deficits and the debt incurred to finance as Pakistan’s principal economic problem.
He said expenditure was growing faster than revenue and urged the elimination of duplicative federal ministries and departments, attention to non-development spending and reduced government borrowing that crowded out business credit.
Chairman Public Accounts Committee, Punjab Assembly Ahmad Iqbal Chaudhary said the growth debate should extend beyond national aggregates to the performance of provinces, cities and districts. He urged reliable provincial-to-local fiscal transfers, greater accountability for local growth and public services, and an end to what he described as the ‘poverty of participation’ that excludes citizens from decisions over every day needs.
Former special secretary finance Noor Mohammed said excessive government demands on limited financial resources reduced liquidity available for private investment. He emphasized the weak value obtained from some public spending, institutional duplication and the need to reform the civil service.
Former chairman of Punjab’s P&D Board Suleman Ghani urged political parties to agree on a 20-30-year vision for economic governance while allowing delivery responsibilities to move closer to citizens. He said local governments should be equipped to provide primary education, health and other services, supported by an appropriate restructuring of decision-making authority.
Member Sindh Public Service Commission Abdul Ghufran Memon highlighted a prolonged backlog of audit observations and the weakness of follow-up through Public Accounts Committee procedures.
He called for decisions on longstanding cases rather than indefinite repetition, better implementation incentives and sustained political agreement on core programmes.
Dr. Vaqar Ahmed, team lead at OPM Pakistan, called for regulatory reform that businesses could measure in lower compliance costs. He proposed temporarily restraining new overlapping rules while existing regulations were reviewed, requiring annual regulator assessments to quantify financial savings, and coordinating institutions before launching more unconnected digital portals.
Senior Journalist Fahd Husain questioned whether established political, administrative, commercial and media interests had sufficient incentive to change arrangements from which they benefited.
Zebunisa Burki from Senior Journalist said reform should be judged from the perspective of citizens rather than by headline growth figures or infrastructure announcements alone.
