‘Escalating import bill to exert pressure on forex reserves’
KARACHI: Atif Ikram Sheikh, President of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI) has warned that without immediate structural interventions, the continuous pivot to expensive imports to meet domestic demand will further exhaust the national exchequer and trigger a severe balance of payments crisis. Voicing profound alarm over the unchecked expansion of Pakistan’s trade…
Karachi-based FPCCI President Atif Ikram Sheikh has issued a dire warning that Pakistan's escalating import bill poses a grave threat to the nation's foreign exchange reserves and macroeconomic stability. During the first quarter of the fiscal year 2026-27, the trade deficit surged by 15.13 percent, reaching an alarming USD 10.792 billion, up from USD 9.374 billion in the same period last year.
September 2026 alone witnessed a 6.15 percent year-on-year hike, with the trade deficit ballooning to USD 3.55 billion. Sheikh attributes this unsustainable trend to Pakistan's exorbitant business costs, including prohibitive interest rates, massive electricity capacity charges, and elevated petroleum levies. To salvage the export objectives for FY27 and avert industrial stagnation, the FPCCI head is urging the Ministry of Finance and State Bank of Pakistan to slash the policy rate to single digits, provide affordable working capital to manufacturers, and rationalize electricity and gas tariffs in line with regional rivals.
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