Pakistani firms report excellent corporate results

Excellent corporate results show that the Pakistani economy is booming, while high unemployment rates depict a gloomy picture, said economists and termed it the outcome of a partially regulated economy. Asif Ali Shahid, a certified public accountant, said that more than half of the employment in the country is generated by the non-documented sector that is under pressure due to the impact of globalisation the domestic market and recessionary trends in the economy. The wages in the non-documented sector are less than half the minimum wage fixed by the government, he said, adding that the non-documented sector has no alternative but to cut wages in order to survive in the market. The corporate sector, he said, has tackled the challenge of free global trade by making itself leaner and efficient. “This naturally means a fewer jobs and better equipment,” he said, adding that the unemployed are facing dual threat. The documented corporate sector has shed jobs by improving efficiency and the non-documented sector has no jobs to offer as the demand of its products is on the decline, said Shahid. Muhammad Ashraf, former senior vice president of Allied bank Limited (ABL), said that the services of all banks have improved thanks to the state-of-the-art technology deployed by them. The banks are no more into hiring as they are trying to adjust the staff spared due to technology enhancement in other banking fields, he said. Faisal Qamar, a chartered accountant, said that the textile spinners used to employ around 300-500 workers mostly female to pick foreign materials from cotton bales. This job is now done by a laser machine that picks up all non-cotton impurities before sending it for spinning, he said. “This has rendered thousands of female workers jobless.” Naveed Anwar Khan, a senior economist, said that Pakistan has made commendable progress in producing home appliances. “Fifteen years ago, imported televisions” air-conditioners and microwave ovens dominated the Pakistani market,” he said. Today, the largest selling brands of all these items are Pakistani brands, he added. From gulftoday