ISLAMABAD: Criticising the mini-budget announced by the government, Islamabad`s business community has asked the government to reduce its expenses for additional savings.

In a meeting at the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) on Monday, traders and industrialists expressed their concerns over the consistent rise in the public debt and suggested the government rationalise their own budget and introduce financial discipline to bridge the fiscal deficit.

ICCI President Atif Ikram Sheikh said: `The current budget and defi-cits means every Pakistani owes more than Rs101,300. We urge the government to take immediate remedial measures to save the country from falling into an inextricable debt trap.

Addressing the meeting, he said public debt had increased by 434 per cent within the relatively short span of 15 years. He added that public debt in 2000 was Rs3,172 billion, which had surged to Rs16,936 billion by March this year.

`This clearly shows that successive governments have resorted to huge borrowings without considering the fact that this reckless approach is pushing the countrytowards a serious debt trap,` he warned.

Members of the business community said that to retire the massive debt, the government was resorting to measures like the introduction of a mini budget.

They agreed that the government needed better strategies to deal with the debt problem and to come up with indigenous resources of income to overcome the fiscal deficit.

The ICCI president said: `Because the government is borrowing heavily from banks, there is now limited space for credit flow to the private sector, which now has difficultieswith growth and expansion.

He added that the best option was for the government to strengthen the private sector.

A resolution was passed after the meeting which called for the government to ease credit flow to the private sector because it will help promote business activities, increase exports, reduce imports, improve revenue collection and minimise debt reliance.

It said the government should focus on investing in energy generation projects that will help in overcoming energy shortages and will also help in rapid industrialisation and creation of jobs. A Reporter