Business Community Thinks Default Imminent for Pakistan: Gallup Survey

The majority of business community in Pakistan is not very “hopeful” about the ability of caretaker government to cope up with the financial challenges the country is facing. Hence, they fear there is an imminent danger of default, reveals a latest survey conducted by Gallup Pakistan.

More than 500 business owners were asked if they are satisfied with the performance of current government and around 72% of these people disagreed. They also said that they think Pakistan can still default down the road.

Of all the participants surveyed, around 49% seemed concerned about the ongoing economic situation in the country while 17% people did not show any concerns.

According to the Gallup Pakistan Business Confidence Index Q22023 report, the business community is very worried about the increasing power prices and back-breaking inflation. However, the business owners are now a little bit less pessimistic about the situation as compared to the last quarter despite mounting tariffs and inflation.

The survey report mentioned, “Inflation, utility bills and rupee devaluation cause growing concern among business community, but overall fewer businesses express hopelessness compared to the previous quarter.”

It further added, “Prevailing economic and political crises have contributed to persisting business insecurity.”

Besides inflation and increased fuel prices, the hike in taxes and freefall of the rupee are two main problems the business community wants the government to address. They also complained about the increased load shedding which has severely affected their productivity and as a result, they either had to shut down units, increase the prices of their products or lay off employees.

The Gallup Pakistan states that “the business community’s view about future business in the country is the most pessimistic since Gallup Pakistan started recording this indicator.”