AVN Report
KARACHI: Mian Zahid Hussain, Chairman of the National Business Group Pakistan and President of the Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum has expressed concern over the rapidly widening gap between the wealthy and impoverished segments of society.
Highlighting the urgency of addressing economic inequality, Hussain said the next elected government must prioritise the establishment of an equitable economic structure for the country’s sustainable future.
He said the incoming government should make economic equality a focal point of its agenda, given the global trend of increasing disparities between the affluent and the less privileged, which is also evident in Pakistan.
According to Hussain, the prevailing economic system, dominated by capitalists worldwide, has led to a disproportionate accumulation of wealth in the hands of a few, while the majority experiences a decline in living standards. He warned that unless this trend is reversed, the economic disparity could have detrimental effects on both the economy and social cohesion.
He is of the view that during the Covid-19 pandemic, many countries, including Pakistan, adopted policies that disproportionately benefited the wealthy under the guise of public welfare. The consequences of currency devaluation, fiscal deficit, and current account deficit, have contributed to record-breaking inflation in Pakistan.
He said the alarming trend of the world’s richest individuals witnessing an annual increase in their wealth by more than 100 percent has exposed the shortcomings of the current economic system.
Hussain said that half of the world’s population currently owns only two percent of global resources, while large multinational companies consistently report an average annual profit of 52 percent over the past three years.
He proposed that a functional economic system requires the collection of full taxes from influential companies, restricting the power of the corporate sector, and preventing exploitation of people by the rich. He called for putting an end to tax concessions and ensuring responsible corporate practices for a more equitable distribution of wealth.
