Pakistan ‘a 1pc republic’, says former finance minister Miftah Ismail
Pakistan former finance minister Miftah Ismail on Monday termed Pakistan a "one-per cent republic" that offers no upward social mobility to an overwhelming majority of its citizens, DAWN reported.
Speaking at an awards ceremony organised by the Management Association of Pakistan (MAP), he said there's "something very wrong" with Pakistan.
"The 1pc elite controls this country," said Mr Ismail who was a placeholder at the finance ministry for six months until Ishaq Dar's recent return from exile.
Citing the example of US billionaires Bill Gates and Steve Jobs who came from nothing and yet built a fortune by dint of their talent, he lamented that almost all rich Pakistanis are beneficiaries of generational wealth.
"(The last government) distributed Rs580 billion among the richest 1pc Pakistanis under the Temporary Economic Refinance Facility. The government itself is borrowing at 15pc but the rich people got money at 1pc only," he said. The liquidity injection increased imports of machinery and widened the current account deficit because local business groups produced goods for domestic consumption only, he said, reports DAWN.
He also criticised the auto sector for its inward-looking approach that's been draining foreign exchange on imports for decades without generating any dollar earnings through exports. He mocked the auto sector for finally exporting "carpets" used in vehicles to Egypt upon his insistence.