The Federal Minister for Finance, Economic Affairs, Revenue and Statistics Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar while chairing a meeting with IMF delegates, which was among others attended by the senior officials of Ministry of Finance, State Bank of Pakistan gave an update on Pakistan’s economy.
The finance minister said that Pakistan’s performance on various actions/economic indicators envisaged under the reform agenda was on track and most of the Policy Actions, Performance Criteria and Benchmarks have been met. The growth during the first half of current financial year posted 4.1% against 3.4% of the last financial year. The factor behind the growth is the rebound in industrial sector, which is backed by remarkable growth in large scale manufacturing sector due to better energy supply. All indicators of the economy are on upward trajectory. The inflation has also been contained to single digit during the first ten months of the current fiscal year.
The finance minister stated that the outlook of external sector has been positive on account of inflows from multilateral and bilateral development partners, Euro Bond, privatization proceeds, 3G/4G license proceeds, IMF tranche and significant increase in remittances. He also mentioned about further increase in the foreign inflows during the remaining part of the current financial year.
IMF’s Mission Chief appreciated the efforts of the government in meeting various targets in a short period of time.