Russian-Ukraine Conflict Worsened World Economy: Mian Kashif Ashfaq

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 8th Sep, 2022 ) :Chief Executive Officer Pakistan Furniture Council Mian Kashif Ashfaq on Thursday said that Russia-Ukraine conflict had negatively impacted the world economy, which was still struggling to recover from almost three-year long Covid-19 pandemic.

Addressing a zoom business meeting held under the aegis of Honorary Consular Investment and Tourism Ambassador to Italy Muhammad Sheryar Khan, he said that the conflict had given the world a shocking reminder of how things could change in a bad way within a short span of time.

He said according to the United Nations estimates, 12 million people moved from their homes with 5 million having left the country, in one of the biggest refugee crisis Europe has ever seen.

Quoting the world food programme of the UN, he said 345 million people in 82 countries were facing or were at the risk of acute food insecurity today, compared with 135 million in 53 countries before the pandemic as the conflict had driven up the costs of food, fuel and fertilisers.

Mian Kashif Ashfaq said the whole of world particularly Europe caught up in an unprecedented energy crisis as a result of US led sanctions on Russian oil and gas.

He said the uncertainty surrounding future supplies had driven benchmark European electricity prices to an "absurd level", more than 14 times its average in the 2010.

He thanked Muhammad Sheryar Khan for arranging this important zoom meeting on the future consequences of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict to abreast the Pakistani investors, importers and exporters.

He hoped such sincere endeavors would contribute to promote Pakistani exports manifolds in the days to come as still untapped markets in Europe were to be fully explored.