Malik Khuda Bakhsh commends govt’s measures for economic stability

Business Recorder reported that Malik Khuda Bakhsh, who heads the Sindh region of the Pakistan Business Forum and chairs the Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association, has praised the government's steps to steer the country toward economic stability. In his view, decisions taken under Prime Minister Mian Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir have helped rebuild confidence among businesses and the public. He acknowledged that reforms have continued despite a difficult economic environment.

He said fundamental changes to fiscal and administrative systems are now needed to make the reforms more effective, including clearer responsibilities for tax collection, spending and resource sharing between federal and provincial governments. He also called for the National Finance Commission's next phase to review fiscal powers rather than focus only on dividing revenue. On taxation, he proposed a simpler, transparent and business-friendly system with digital records and fewer procedures across departments.

He urged the government to pair economic reforms with measures that ease doing business, lower energy costs, raise industrial output and boost exports. He also said traders and industrialists should be taken into confidence to widen the tax base, and that coordination with the private sector needs to be strengthened. He expressed hope that existing policies would continue and that business recommendations would feed into budget and administrative reforms.