What this nation is going to make possible is to achieve prosperity without economic growth. The new housing projects in the private sector are pushing the construction industry to new heights, local, Japanese European brands cars have narrowed the streets of cities and markets are infested with imported consumer items, from smart phones to household electronics. The emerging middle class of the country is expanding and is acting as engine of growth. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of business and trade opportunities knocking the door of this nation, but the leaders are refusing to accept any of the offers for one reason or the other. The government is on the track of making tough laws to streamline administrative affairs without realizing that the implementation machinery needs capacity building. The tough laws in the absence of will and commitment would result in more corruption, more chaos and more money laundering incidents in the country.
No doubt most of the people avoid to pay taxes, but this happens in every country of the world. The latest money whitening scheme of the government has received very poor response while the money transfer incidents have been on the rise for the last couple of years. Many high-profile arrests indicate that the situation is not as simple as it seems to be, but what needs to do is never been done. If you cannot stop corruption, at least allow the corrupt money to stay within the country. The money will be invested in real estate business and many many other fields and can work as engine of growth for the national economy. If corruption is very bad, nip the evil in the bud and if you cannot, try to ensure positive outcome from the black money. Many other countries are doing the same thing including the fairest country in the world, Switzerland, and the most civilized country in the world, the Great Britain.
The latest media reports about offshore companies have shaken many capitals in the world and should be an eye opener for the policymakers in this country. The presidents, prime ministers and members of ruling elites are allegedly found involved in offshore investments of the black money and Pakistan is not an exception. The tough laws always breed corruption and that is the undeniable ground reality. Two points are needed to be considered. One expand the tax base and the reduce tax rates and two — don’t tell don’t ask for the source of money for a certain point of time and it will certainly bring positive growth in real estate as well as other businesses in the country.