Economic losses
suffered by Pakistan due to terrorism continued to pile up as the country lost
another Rs701 billion ($6.9bn) during the first nine months (July-March) of
2013-14.
The country has
lost Rs8264.4bn ($102.5bn), both in direct and indirect costs of incidents of
terrorism, during the past 13 years of its engagement with war on terror,
Economic Survey 2013-14 released on Monday said.
It was, however,
important to note that the losses during the outgoing fiscal year had declined
by 32.9 per cent as compared to last year. Losses during 2013-14 had scaled
back to the 2007-08 in terms of dollar value. The declining trend for losses
had started in 2011-12 and has continued since then.
Pakistan lost the
most in 2010-11 for any single year when its losses due to terrorism were
calculated to be Rs2,037bn ($23.77bn).
The impact of
terrorism on the economy was measured by a finance ministry-led
inter-ministerial committee comprising representatives of ministries of
interior, foreign affairs, commerce and inter-provincial coordination.
The Economic Survey
said that the “rise of violent extremism and increase in terrorism … disrupted
Pakistan’s normal economic and trading activities, which not only resulted in
higher costs of business but also created disruptions in the production cycles,
resulting in significant delays in meeting the export orders around the globe.
As a result, Pakistani products have gradually lost their market share to their
competitors.”
This led to slowing
down of economic growth, declining tax collection and loss of foreign
investment.
The blame for
growing extremism and terrorism in Pakistan was put on “instability and
conflict” in Afghanistan.
The breakdown of
the losses given by the Economic Survey showed that while all other sectors suffered
less than previous years, foreign investment took the biggest hit during this
period. It is estimated that the country lost foreign investment worth $3,260m
during the last year as compared to $210m during the previous year.
Lost foreign
investments roughly made up half of the total losses incurred by the country
due to terrorism.
Losses in terms of
exports ($323m), industrial output ($129.6m), and tax collection ($1,732.4m)
reduced significantly over the previous year.
Lower figures
quoted for the compensation paid to affectees ($13.97m) and damage to physical
infrastructure (437.36m) this year was clear indication that despite some
high-profile incidents, damage caused by terrorism decreased.
The Economic Survey
said Pakistan “needs enormous resources to enhance productive capacity of the
economy by repairing damaged infrastructure and to create a favorable
investment climate”.
It said the
security situation was a “key determinant” of future flow of the investment.
The survey further
noted that Pakistan’s economy needs an early end to the conflict in
Afghanistan.
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