LAHORE, AUG 24 /DNA/ – The Ferozepur Industrial Association (FRIA) has welcomed signs of steady economic improvement but cautioned that over-reliance on stock market performance and remittances cannot substitute for genuine industrial revival.
FRIA Chairman Shahbaz Aslam, in a statement, said that Pakistan’s path to sustainable growth lies in strengthening its industrial base, boosting exports, and ensuring productive credit flows into manufacturing rather than speculative investments.
He acknowledged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s satisfaction over the stock market index crossing 148,000 points and noted that declining inflation and a surplus of USD 2.1 billion in the current account for July-June 2025 were encouraging. However, he pointed out that large-scale manufacturing remained in negative growth of 1.21 percent during 2024-25, while exports fell and the trade deficit widened to USD 26.785 billion compared to USD 22.177 billion the previous year.
“These figures clearly show that industry is under pressure. Rising credit to the private sector has unfortunately gone into the stock market rather than industrial production, which is why our exports are shrinking. Unless industry grows, no stock market surge can be called real progress,” Shahbaz Aslam remarked.
He stressed that poverty levels, at 44.7 percent as reported by the World Bank, highlight the disconnect between financial market gains and the ground realities of the economy. “The poor and vulnerable benefit only when factories expand, jobs are created, and exports rise. That requires long-term industrial policies and reduced cost of doing business,” he added.
While appreciating the rise in remittances — up from USD 2,994 million in July 2024 to USD 3,214.4 million last month — the FRIA chairman warned that dependence on overseas Pakistanis is not sustainable. He urged the government to use the IMF programme as an opportunity to reform taxation and cut wasteful expenditure, instead of squeezing industry further.
“Pakistan’s reserves have improved but remain fragile due to heavy reliance on rollovers. The only way out is industrial growth. The government must work with business associations like FRIA to chart a genuine roadmap for manufacturing-led development,” Shahbaz Aslam concluded.
