ANI
24 Jan 2023, 21:55 GMT+10
Islamabad [Pakistan], January 24 (ANI): The pharmaceutical industry in Pakistan is struggling to replenish its supplies amid a shortage of essential life-saving drugs and other surgical instruments as the country is facing an economic crisis, The Express Tribune reported.
The economic crisis faced by Pakistan is caused by a number of factors, including the refusal of commercial banks to issue new Letters of Credit (LCs) on account of a shortage of US dollars that have impacted drug companies, as per The Express Tribune report.
Pharmaceutical companies have been facing difficulty to maintain stocks of essential life-saving drugs. As experts have warned of the economy "sinking into near-paralysis", top pharmaceutical firms are facing difficulty to get raw materials to manufacture drugs while being forced to reduce production as patients suffer in hospitals, The News International reported citing sources.
The crisis comes as Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves touched an eight-year low of USD 4.3 billion and talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) hang in balance.
Due to the ongoing economic crisis, Pakistan is unable to buy basic imports, including medicine and active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), several vaccines and biological products for the treatment of cancer and other diseases, as per the news report.
As per the news report, the operation theatres are left with less than a two-week stock of anaesthetics which is important for highly sensitive surgeries. Pharmaceutical companies are left with raw materials that will last for only four to five weeks, The Express Tribune reported.
Stakeholders of medical companies have called on Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to address their concerns and call on the state bank as well as commercial banks to resolve their issues.
Medical companies have warned that the crisis could create further severity as the raw materials needed for creating medicines have been held up at the Karachi port due to a shortage of dollars. Shipping containers with essential food items are stuck at the port in Karachi for weeks.
Meanwhile, interest expenses in Pakistan have increased to Pakistani Rupees (PKR) 2.57 trillion in the first half of this fiscal year, amounting to 65 per cent of the annual debt servicing budget, and is forcing the Pakistan government to reduce its other expenses, except those on defence, The Express Tribune reported. The development comes amid the government's reluctance to opt for debt restructuring.
With a net income of PKR 2.5 trillion, Pakistan's total spending on debt servicing and defence reached over PKR 3.2 trillion more than the government's net income, which indicates that Pakistan will remain debt trapped as the tax collection has increased, however, the expenses have not been reduced, as per the news report.
In comparison to a massive expenditure of PKR 3.2 trillion on debt servicing and defence, only PKR 147 billion was spent on development, the report said, adding that the expenditure on development is 49 per cent less in comparison to the previous fiscal year. (ANI)
Get a daily dose of Caribbean Herald news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Caribbean Herald.
More InformationTORRANCE, California: Due to un-repaired Takata air bag inflators that can explode and unleash potentially deadly metal shrapnel inside vehicles, ...
NEW YORK, New York - After a day of major gains, U.S. stock markets fell sharply Wednesday underscoring volatility as ...
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida: In a tweet this weekend, Elon Musk said that SpaceX may attempt a Starship rocket system launch ...
LONDON, England: The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders has reported that new car registrations in the UK rose for ...
TAIPEI, Taiwan: After the end of COVID-19 disruptions in China, Taiwan's Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics maker and major ...
NEW YORK, New York - Stocks ended sharply higher on Tuesday following mixed comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.Powell ...
Vanderbilt's Tyrin Lawrence hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer as the Commodores upset sixth-ranked Tennessee 66-65 inside Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tenn., ...
The White House released this transcript of President Biden's 2023 State of the Union Address, as prepared for delivery.Mr. Speaker. ...
It's champion vs. champion in the main event of UFC 284. Saturday night's event is headlined by the two undisputed ...
Beijing [China], February 8 (ANI): China has massively invested in over 150 countries majority of them being underdeveloped nations which ...
Washington [US], February 8 (ANI): Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's remark that the war is "started by the West," is ...
AWPer Florian "syrsoN" Rische has opted to take himself out of BIG's starting lineup, Dexerto reported Wednesday. The 26-year-old German's ...