"Siyasi Adam Istehkaam Nahi Balkay Muashi Adam Istehkaam Ki Waja...", Miftah Ismail
"Siyasi Adam Istehkaam Nahi Balkay Muashi Adam Istehkaam Ki Waja...", Miftah Ismail
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00:00The flip side of this is that on one hand, you are increasing taxes,
00:04there are difficulties for the common man, but there are also difficulties for businesses at this time.
00:10And when we don't remain competitive, our business will shut down.
00:14When the business shuts down, we will see the unemployment rate increasing.
00:20This is what is happening, that on one hand, Iran produces its products and sends them to Pakistan.
00:27Smuggling is happening, there is no doubt about it.
00:29Iranian oil, Iranian food, everything is coming here.
00:35And our small and medium industries are suffering.
00:38Now what will we do about this?
00:39No one is paying attention to this either.
00:41Look, let's divide it into two parts.
00:44One is that the oil that comes, fuel, petrol that comes, diesel comes, I should say.
00:5025% of the petrol used in Pakistan is smuggled from Iran.
00:57More than 200 billion rupees is the loss of the Federal Bureau of Revenue, FBR, which we do not take a levy.
01:04And when you leave a levy of 200 billion rupees, you have to pay a tax of 200 billion rupees somewhere else.
01:10So this is a big loss and there is distortion in the market.
01:13The second loss is that now the oil for food and drink is also smuggled from Iran.
01:20Iron scrap is also being smuggled.
01:23Other things are also being smuggled.
01:24So the factory here, which also pays the sales tax, which also pays the income tax, which also pays other taxes,
01:30and most importantly, which hires Pakistanis,
01:33if we don't have jobs here, how will people survive?
01:37So we are sacrificing all those things because we are not able to stop smuggling there.
01:42So I think the government and institutions should think about this,
01:47what should they think about their policy?
01:54Smugglers should be stopped.
02:00Mr. Mufta, there is an understanding of this in some sectors,
02:04yet it is not being stopped.
02:07If one litre of Iranian oil is found in Islamabad for 22 rupees a litre,
02:12or if it is found here, then more than 250 rupees a litre is being sold here.
02:17On top of that, a smuggler is getting a good profit.
02:21That is more than a thousand percent in itself.
02:26So in such a situation, Mr. Mufta, just tell me,
02:30what should be done?
02:31Who is stopping smugglers?
02:33Who is stopping things from entering the country without tax?
02:39Whether it is from Afghanistan at the western border or from Iran?
02:44Look, people have a misunderstanding that because we smuggle things from Iran,
02:56we don't need dollars.
02:57Dollars are going from Pakistan.
02:59Whether it is going from the Interbank, or from the open market,
03:02or from the currency market, it is our dollar that is going.
03:05Because all those markets are connected.
03:07So this is a misunderstanding in people's minds.
03:10The second thing is that as far as diesel is concerned,
03:13it is found very cheaply in Iran.
03:15So there is no need to stop it.
03:16I am not saying that you should stop it.
03:18I am saying that let it come.
03:19But just take 60 rupees from it,
03:21put it in front of the border,
03:23from the border, 50 gauss inside.
03:25Formalize it.
03:26If you cross this line, we will take 60 rupees from you.
03:29Obviously, it will be Iranian, so you can take 60 rupees from it,
03:33or 70 rupees that you take nowadays from diesel.
03:36And the second thing is that we are understanding that
03:38smugglers make a thousand percent profit.
03:41Smugglers are very small people who come on scooters and motorcycles.
03:45They are doing small jobs.
03:47There are a lot of big people involved in it who benefit.
03:51It is not that they are giving profits to smugglers.
03:55A lot of people whose job is to stop,
03:57and the political leaders there, are benefiting.
04:00Otherwise, this business would not have been going on for so long.
04:03Right.
04:04At the end,
04:05obviously, there are a lot of economic problems for the government.
04:09We went to China.
04:10Today, Maulana Fazlur Rehman was also saying that we went to China.
04:13China said that you have so many internal problems.
04:16So, we cannot bring investment at this time,
04:20or we are not seeing the economy growing in that way.
04:22Do you think that until or unless things settle down politically,
04:27until then,
04:28there will be no investment in Pakistan,
04:31no economic improvement,
04:33will things ease down for the government?
04:36Or is there a way out?
04:38Look, I understand that political stability will lead to better economic stability.
04:45I am not denying political stability.
04:48But the current lack of investment in Pakistan
04:52is not a matter of political instability in Pakistan.
04:54It is a matter of economic instability in Pakistan.
04:56The condition of Pakistan's economy is such that no one wants to invest.
05:01When people feel that Pakistan's economy is doing well,
05:04then they will start getting money on their own.
05:05But right now, we are hiding in a lot of problems.
05:08You can see how much electricity bills have troubled people.
05:12Inflation has troubled people.
05:13Inflation is again going up a little bit.
05:16So, there are a lot of problems with the economy right now.
05:19Otherwise, look, the truth is that the investors in Pakistan
05:22and the Pakistanis know that whatever politics is going on in the future,
05:26there is an institution behind it that is running the country.
05:30And if it is sitting, then the assurance that we are getting today,
05:32we will continue to get it.
05:33We will continue to get assurance in the future.
05:35It is not that Pakistan will go somewhere or the government of Pakistan will go somewhere.
05:38The government keeps changing, but the people behind it are sitting.
05:41So, in that sense, political stability is the drama of the future.
05:44So, it is not that important.
05:46But the people behind it cannot do anything about economic stability.
05:49If there is no dollar, then what can we do?
05:51So, Mr. Laghari was saying, Mr. Miftad, that good news is going to come soon.
05:54What good news will it be?
05:56Who was saying that? Sorry.
05:57Mr. Laghari, Mr. Owais Laghari.
06:00What good news is going to come?
06:01In the electricity bills, economically, the situation of Pakistan.
06:07May God bless his tongue.
06:09May God bless my brother, Mr. Laghari, Mr. Owais Laghari.
06:12May God bless his words and may this happen.
06:14If he says good news, let him do it.
06:17But I still think that there is no room for taxes in the electricity bills.
06:22When the government is sending you from the world's most expensive electricity to such a poor country,
06:27there is no need for an additional 24% tax on the household bills.
06:32So, if they have a little…
06:33Seriously, I am telling you, Anika, this is a lack of thinking.
06:36If their thinking is correct, then it is not so difficult to do this.
06:39Within a day, you can get IMF's approval.
06:42If you reduce the equivalent expenditure, then this is not very difficult at all.
06:47But this is just a lack of thinking.
06:49That makes sense.
06:50Where there is a will, there is a way.
06:51But maybe there is no will.
06:52But Mr. Gupta, thank you very much for joining me in the program.