Achakzai rejects 'unjust' water distribution formula
Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) Chairman Mahmood Khan Achakzai has categorically rejected the federal government's proposed formula for water distribution among the provinces as "unjust and unacceptable."
Addressing a grand jirga organised by PkMAP in Swabi district on Saturday, Achakzai, who is also the head of the Tehreek-e-Tahaffuz Aaeen-e-Pakistan, stressed that Pakistan can only function effectively if all four federating units are granted their due share of resources. "This country wasn't handed to us as charity - our elders made great sacrifices for it," he said. "Each province must receive what it rightfully deserves."
Achakzai criticised the current water-sharing model, which allocates 50 per cent to Punjab, 38 per cent to Sindh, eight per cent to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and three per cent to Balochistan. He entirely rejected this formula and called for a new, equitable system.
The PkMAP chairman also urged Pakistan and India to demonstrate maturity and restraint in their bilateral relations, warning that a nuclear conflict is not child's play. "Neither the people of the two nations nor the modern world can afford such a war," he added.
The veteran nationalist politician condemned the exploitation of natural resources by powerful nations and corporations, calling for an end to external control over local wealth. "We demand that our resources be returned to us. Powerful and wealthy countries must stop occupying the natural and mineral wealth of weaker nations," he said.
Achakzai slammed the narrative labeling Pashtuns as terrorists, saying that Pashtuns are, in fact, a peace-loving people. "Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa is rich in blessings, many of which are even mentioned in the Holy Quran," he added.
The PkMAP chief questioned the legitimacy of using national resources to pay back IMF loans. "Let the government show us how much the IMF has actually loaned and how much has been invested in K-P, Sindh, Punjab, and Balochistan," he demanded.
Achakzai also rejected the outcome of the February 8 general elections as a "national tragedy" in which voters were denied their rights through coercion. "The biggest act of terrorism in Pakistan occurred during these elections when people were forced at gunpoint to surrender their vote," he claimed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Recorder
11 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Fixing budget to unleash growth
Every year, Pakistan's federal budget arrives with familiar choreography: a frantic scramble for revenue, a ritualistic promise of belt-tightening, a prayer for donor approval—and, inevitably, a deepening economic funk. The budget, instead of being a strategic tool to unleash growth and build reserves, has become a reactive exercise designed to appease creditors and perpetuate the status quo. This is not just a budgeting problem—it is a full-blown political economy failure. To break this cycle, we must fundamentally reimagine the budget—not as a ledger-balancing ritual, but as the central engine of economic revival through a sustained growth acceleration. Bloated government Pakistan's budget has historically expanded alongside a steady growth in government spending—starting with the welfare and development spree of the Bhutto years. Since then, successive governments have continued to bloat expenditures, expand political patronage networks, and indulge in borrowed vanity projects. Unsurprisingly, the lion's share of the budget is now devoured by a bloated and inefficient government machinery—ministries, SOEs, elite subsidies, and ever-growing civilian and military pensions. Development spending (PSDP) does not fare much better. It is either slashed mid-year or burned on politically motivated brick-and-mortar projects that neither raise productivity nor enhance exports. Numerous studies show that public investment in Pakistan is failing to crowd in private capital, generate jobs, or enhance competitiveness. No surprise, then, that economic growth has been on a steady downward slope this century. Don't tax the economy to death Maintaining the donor mantra that the 'tax-to-GDP ratio is low,' the IMF responds to our fiscal deficits by prescribing more and more taxes. When unrealistic revenue targets fall short, they roll out the usual remedy: 'further taxes,' 'additional taxes,' 'super taxes'—all piled on top of already over-taxed sectors in the infamous minibudget blitzes. The result? A regressive, volatile, and thoroughly anti-growth tax regime. Pakistan's real problem is not just low revenue—it is the structure of revenue—complicated, intrusive, and volatile. The consequence is a skewed, unjust, and investment-suppressing system. As deficits ballooned alongside unchecked political largesse, public debt skyrocketed past the 60 percent of GDP ceiling set by the 2003 Fiscal Responsibility Act—an IMF-sponsored law. Today, over 50 percent of the federal budget is consumed by interest payments. Yet both federal and provincial governments continue spending with abandon. Just in FY2025, they added over 60 new government agencies. Apparently, austerity is for textbooks — not our political class. A good budget To shift the budget toward growth, we must reframe our fiscal strategy around three core objectives: investment facilitation, economic restructuring, and foreign exchange generation. Our fiscal culture is rooted in control. Every economic activity is smothered in paperwork, redundant approvals, and bureaucratic misalignment. The budget must empower cities, universities, and private innovators—not just federal ministries. Local governments have been 'in the pipeline' for decades. While this issue lies beyond the immediate scope of the budget, it is crucial that administrative decentralization and institutional autonomy be pursued with proper performance checks and accountability frameworks. Perhaps the most urgent—and overdue—reform is the restructuring of the Planning Commission and the PSDP. The Haq/HAG model of brick-and-mortar development must evolve into a productivity-enhancing strategy. Let us transform the PSDP into a competitive grants framework—empowering cities and knowledge institutions to innovate, tied to clear outcomes in research, urban regeneration, and enterprise development. Likewise, the Planning Commission should be converted into a genuine reform engine—steering away from bloated plans and abstract visions that no one reads, let alone implements. And yes, this also means an end to discretionary funds and politically captive schemes. Enough random taxation The obsession with squeezing more out of the same tax base is strangling the economy. We need to broaden the base by simplifying, lowering, and stabilizing the tax structure—rather than repeatedly taxing the same goods and sectors into oblivion. As we outlined in the Haque Tax Commission Report of 2024: a) Simplify the tax code and reduce compliance burdens b) Replace withholding and turnover taxes with a value-added tax (VAT) system, with automatic and credible refunds c) Streamline documentation requirements for entering the tax system d) Broaden the base through digitization and administrative ease e) Most importantly, stop the frantic revenue drives that inject volatility, erode confidence, and drive away both domestic and foreign investment A good time to open the economy The relentless thirst for revenue has turned tariffs into a catch-all crutch—even exports now suffer because import duties are raising the cost of globally integrated inputs. Worse still, policy remains trapped in an outdated import-substitution mindset that rewards rent-seeking rather than export excellence. It is time for a bold pivot: abandon import substitution and stop using tariffs as a revenue crutch. Elementary economics teaches that tariffs are used to prevent a needed exchange rate adjustment. Tariffs can never be a competitive strategy. If we are serious about export-led growth—not just sloganeering—we must let the rupee find its true value, open the economy, and dismantle protectionist walls. Make the budget a living, transparent document For two decades, we have had a grand-sounding World Bank project—PIFRA ('Project to Improve Financial Reporting and Auditing')—with nothing to show. We still lack basic budget transparency. Follow the rest of the world and now adopt accrual-based budgeting across Pakistan. Here is a modest proposal for the finance minister: Make PIFRA live for public access this year. Put real-time dashboards online so citizens can trace every rupee spent. Growth is the only way out Our fiscal burden continues to grow as economic growth slows. The only way to break free from perpetual debt, IMF bailouts, and creeping default is through a sustained acceleration of private sector-led growth. This must be the cornerstone of budget policy: raise private investment from today's pitiful 8–9 percent of GDP to over 20 percent in five years. Deregulate. Open up. Simplify taxes and documentation. Build a performance-oriented public sector that enables growth—not one that chases after taxes with a club and spends the money on useless projects, bloated government, and patronage. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Business Recorder
11 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Businessman says community optimistic about budget prospects
KARACHI: The Chairman of National Business Group Pakistan, the President of the Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum, the President of All Karachi Industrial Alliance, the Chairman of the FPCCI Advisory Board, and the President and former provincial minister, Mian Zahid Hussain, said that the business community has high expectations from the new budget. He said that amid an ongoing economic crisis, high inflation, and widespread unemployment, the public is looking to the government for a budget that offers meaningful relief, enabling the industrial and trade sectors to move toward stability, ease of doing business, and growth. He said that the private sector seeks a budget that promotes investment, lowers production costs, broadens the tax base, boosts exports, eliminates the trade deficit, and helps the economy function at full strength. At the same time, an increase in the defence budget is essential. Concrete measures must also be introduced to promote austerity, control unnecessary spending, and curb corruption. Mian Zahid Hussain said the Pakistani economy has been under pressure for several years. While measures taken under IMF conditions helped Pakistan avoid default, they also burdened the population with unemployment and inflation. Given these circumstances, the new budget must combine public relief with structural economic reforms. He added that unnecessary subsidies should be eliminated, tax exemptions must be reviewed, government expenditures must be curtailed, and failing state-owned enterprises should be privatized. Mian Zahid Hussain emphasized that agriculture, IT, exports, and the SME sector must be prioritized for support so that they can generate jobs and strengthen the economy. Operationalizing special economic zones, ensuring uninterrupted and affordable energy supply, and improving infrastructure should also be priorities. He further stated that the budget should not be viewed merely as a tool for increasing revenue but rather as a means of promoting public welfare, industrial progress, and poverty reduction. Without a sustainable economic vision and a clear roadmap, temporary steps will yield no long-term benefits. He emphasized that the people of Pakistan have already made many sacrifices, and the time has come to offer them relief. If the government presents a well-directed and thoughtful budget, it will not only contribute to economic stability but will also help restore public confidence and bring political stability. Mian Zahid Hussain underscored the need for national consensus, wisdom, and foresight to steer the economy forward. All this is possible through a balanced, comprehensive, and people-friendly budget. He concluded by saying that if economic policies are continued without disruption, an investor-friendly environment is created, undue pressure on industrialists is alleviated, and the tax system is simplified and made fair, both domestic and foreign investment will increase. Taxpayers should be respected, and non-filers should be encouraged to bring themselves into the legal framework. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Business Recorder
11 hours ago
- Business Recorder
PHMA slams plan of distributing 2,000MW power to Bitcoin mining
LAHORE: The government's proposed plan of distributing 2,000 megawatts of excess power to Bitcoin mining and artificial intelligence (AI) data centers has faced harsh resistance from industrialists, merchants, and farmers, who contend that the power should be distributed among productive sectors to increase employment and economic growth. Sardar Usman Ghani, Central Chairman of the Pakistan Hardware Merchants Association, expressed serious reservations about the decision, saying that making available cheap electricity to a 'non-productive, speculative industry' is not justifiable when industry, agriculture, and labour-intensive industries are facing an energy crunch. It is shocking to learn that the government plans to export excess electricity to speculative activities such as Bitcoin mining rather than encouraging the productive industries' Ghani informed Business Recorder. 'The decision will not create jobs or drive actual economic growth. It will just promote a privileged group at the expense of industries, traders, farmers, and workers,' he added. The row is based on the government's alleged talks with Bitcoin miners and AI companies to provide them with electricity at subsidised tariffs to leverage surplus power generation capacity. Critics, however, say Pakistan's persistent energy shortfalls make such an allocation irresponsible, especially when industrial and agricultural sectors suffer intermittent outages. Industrialists and economists have raised questions regarding the economic logic of the decision, pointing to the specious nature of crypto currency markets. Bitcoin mining is extremely power-guzzling, and with electricity costs accounting for a large percentage of operating costs, critics say that the government stands to incur massive losses if prices of crypto currencies plummet. Additionally, the opacity in tariff fixation and the void of a proper regulatory structure for crypto currencies have further acted as repellents. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also asked for explanations from Pakistani officials, requesting information on electricity tariffs and the legal status of crypto mining. Virtual talks between Pakistani authorities and the IMF will soon be initiated to sort these issues out. Usman Ghani said that industrial sector of Pakistan has been known to face an unreliability of power supply, and allocating 2,000 MW for Bitcoin mining might be doing it harm. Business owners contend that giving higher preference to speculative activities over manufacturing, agriculture, and small business hampers the allocation of resources, which could dampen sector growth in areas generating jobs. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
