There have been protests across Pakistan including in the capital city with cadre of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf and others demonstrating against the continued incarceration of Imran Khan and against inflated electricity bills. With both issues unlikely to see early resolution, these protests are likely to get intense.
Amid this, the Shehbaz Sharif government received another jolt when a Gallup Business confidence Index report showed that businesses have accused the government of mismanagement of the economy.
Business owners have become more pessimistic about their future because of continued political turmoil and the new tax-heavy budget, said the Gallup report as quoted by Express Tribune.
The Gallup business confidence index has surveyed 454 businesses ranging from small to large. The score for the current business situation, future business situation and direction of the country declined by four to 10 per cent, the survey reports.
The survey also stated that many businesses thought the government's new financial plan for FY25 was not business-friendly. 85 per cent, do not consider the government's new financial plan as a "good budget."
Inflation in Pakistan was the most cited problem. Almost 37 per cent would like the government to address inflation, which soared to 12.6. Another persistent problem for Pakistanis is the continuous disruption of power supply and load shedding.
The survey says that six out of 10 businesses surveyed said they were faced with crippling load-shedding. This quarter 16 per cent more businesses said power outages had increased due to heavy load on power infrastructure in the country in summer.
Operators of retails stores have asked the government to put a check on the rising power tariffs for commercial establishment which has soared to PKR 77.15/unit, the Express Tribune reported.
Meanwhile, concerns are rising in Pakistan's financial sector amid negotiations with Chinese authorities over rescheduling energy sector loans. On July 26, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb had met wit the China central bank governor.
Businesses and banks are anxious about the outcome of the talks. There is a fear for future investment if the talks do not get the desired outcome.
"We believe China will not outright reject Pakistan's request to reschedule energy sector loans, but the final outcome appears bleak," said a senior banker was quoted as saying by Dawn News.
Meanwhile, the Gallup survey says businesses appeared more pessimistic about the future as 57 per cent expressed negative expectations. The net future business confidence score has worsened by 36 per cent since the last quarter and is now at negative 14 per cent.
