Pakistan’s macroeconomic indicators showing positive trend, reforms yielding results, PM
DAVOS : Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan’s economy was showing clear signs of improvement and the country was moving forward with renewed confidence, as key economic indicators continued to strengthen.
Pakistan Pavilion on the sidelines of the 56th Annual Meetings of the World Economic Forum, the prime minister said Pakistan had achieved macroeconomic stability after difficult but necessary reforms and was now firmly focused on export-led growth and sustainable development.
“Our inflation has come down sharply from 30 percent to 5.5 percent, while the policy rate has been reduced from 22.5 percent to 10.5 percent,” he said, adding that the improvement reflected disciplined economic management.
He noted that Pakistan’s IT exports had shown reassuring progress and now stood at around $3 billion annually through offshore channels.
The prime minister said that Pakistan’s exports continued to face challenges but the future path was unambiguous. “Pakistan has to pursue export-led growth,” he said, underlining reforms in revenue collection as a key pillar of the strategy.
He said the government had introduced fundamental changes in the tax system, which was being fully digitized. As a result, the tax-to-GDP ratio had increased to 10.5 percent from 9 percent a few years ago, calling it a significant achievement.
Highlighting sectoral opportunities, Prime Minister Shehbaz said agricultural exports had performed well in the previous year, while Pakistan was entering the mining and minerals sector.
He said agreements had been signed with American and Chinese companies to tap the country’s vast untapped resources in Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
He said Pakistan was also moving rapidly in emerging fields such as information technology, artificial intelligence and crypto, terming the country’s large youth population both a challenge and an opportunity.
The prime minister said the federal and provincial governments were jointly implementing programs to empower youth through vocational and technical training. He cited the role of the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NVTTC), noting that its programs were subject to third-party audits and international certification, enabling Pakistani youth to secure productive employment in Gulf countries and beyond.
On foreign relations, he said Pakistan enjoyed strong economic ties with China and was building cooperation with the United States, particularly in mining, minerals, counterterrorism and technology.
Prime Minister Shehbaz also highlighted transparent privatization efforts, including Pakistan International Airlines, and said further privatization and outsourcing were planned in airports, power distribution companies and transmission lines.
Referring to the IMF programme, he said Pakistan had adhered to stringent conditions in letter and spirit, adding that the Fund was now citing Pakistan as a success story for developing countries.
As regards structural reforms, the prime minister said the government had taken tough decisions to shut down loss-making and inefficient state entities.
He said Utility Stores Corporation, which had been a burden on the national exchequer and offered substandard goods, had been closed to save public money. He added that the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (PASSCO) and the Pakistan Public Works Department (PWD) had also been shut down, resulting in savings of billions of rupees despite resistance from vested interests.
“We are at a point where Pakistan is about to take off,” he said, stressing unity, transparency and sustained reforms as essential to achieving long-term growth and prosperity.
Sohail Majeed is a Special Correspondent at The Diplomatic Insight. He has twelve plus years of experience in journalism & reporting. He covers International Affairs, Diplomacy, UN, Sports, Climate Change, Economy, Technology, and Health.
