Books won’t be available for new academic year, warns Pakistan paper association
In a joint press conference addressed by All Pakistan Paper Merchant Association, Pakistan Association of Printing Graphic Art Industry (PAPGAI), and other organisations associated with the paper industry, along with the country's leading economist Dr Qaiser Bengali, the news was disclosed.
Following the paper crisis in Pakistan, the Pakistan paper association has warned that books will not be available Pakistan paper association in the new academic year starting August 2022.
Even though the paper crises is attributed to the global inflation, the ongoing paper crises in Pakistan is also due to the incorrect policies of the governments and the monopoly of the local paper industries.
In a joint press conference addressed by All Pakistan Paper Merchant Association, Pakistan Association of Printing Graphic Art Industry (PAPGAI), and other organisations associated with the paper industry, along with the country’s leading economist Dr Qaiser Bengali, the news was disclosed.
Recently, a similar news came from Sri Lanka, where the debt-ridden state had postponed exams indefinitely for millions of students due to an acute shortage of printing paper.
According to Pakistan’s local media outlets, with the paper prices skyrocketing, publishers are unable to determine the prices of books and due to this reason, textbook and school boards in Sindh, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cannot print new textbooks for the upcoming academic year.
Ayaz Amir, writer for Pakistan’s local media outlet Dunya Daily, said,”We have seen the rules of Ayub Khan (Former President of Pakistan), Yahiya Khan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. We have seen the governments of dictators and they all had one thing in common, take loans to solve the problems and then take more loans to pay back the previous loan.”
However, China has made a hard bargain with Pakistan when it comes to paybacks on its loans and other investments in Pakistan. In the fiscal year 2021-2022, Pakistan paid around USD 150 million towards interest to China for using a USD 4.5 billion Chinese trade finance facility. While China is largely responsible for Pakistan’s debt problem, it has been quite stringent in recovering money from Pakistan.
