LAHORE (Sapeher Times): Pakistan must move beyond economic stabilisation towards export-led growth, higher productivity and private-sector investment to avoid another cycle of economic crises, Federal Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Saturday at a policy dialogue hosted by Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and the American Business Forum (ABF).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Speaking at the session, \u201cFrom Stabilisation to Growth: Pakistan\u2019s Long-Term Reform Agenda,\u201d held at LUMS, Aurangzeb warned that a return to consumption-led growth could set back the country\u2019s economic recovery by four to five years.<\/p>\n
The session was opened by Osman Khalid Waheed, President of the American Business Forum. It brought together policymakers and business leaders to discuss the structural reforms needed to put Pakistan on a sustainable growth path.<\/p>\n
<\/video><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\nAurangzeb said Pakistan had made progress in restoring macroeconomic stability, with the twin deficits declining from 12.5 per cent of gross domestic product at the beginning of the reform process to 2.6 per cent by the end of the last fiscal year. The fiscal deficit had reached a 22-year low, while the current account deficit stood at around 0.1 per cent of GDP.<\/p>\n<\/p>\nForeign exchange reserves had risen to more than three months of import cover, compared with barely two weeks at the height of the crisis. Pakistan had also received three credit-rating upgrades since April last year, he said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\nThe minister stressed that stability alone would not deliver sustainable growth without fundamental changes to the economy. Reforms in taxation, privatisation, debt management and tariff policy were aimed at improving competitiveness and creating conditions for private businesses to invest, expand and generate employment.<\/p>\n<\/p>\nHe said the government was shifting towards a model in which the private sector leads economic activity, while the state provides an enabling environment. As part of this approach, decision-making over the approximately Rs40 billion Export Development Fund had been shifted away from bureaucratic control towards the private sector, allowing exporters to set priorities according to their needs.<\/p>\n<\/p>\nAurangzeb also highlighted reforms in livestock and dairy, privatisation and energy policy. He said livestock and dairy accounted for around 63 per cent of agricultural GDP, while the government was pursuing the privatisation of state-owned enterprises and receiving bids for three power distribution companies.<\/p>\n<\/p>\nOn export competitiveness, he said tariff reforms were intended to reduce the cost of imported raw materials and intermediate goods. Pakistan needed to move away from prolonged protection and strengthen its ability to compete in international markets.<\/p>\n<\/p>\nIT services exports had risen from less than $1 billion to $4.6 billion and were expected to reach $5.5 billion in the current fiscal year, Aurangzeb said. Measures to support exporters included financing at 4.5 per cent and surplus electricity at Rs23 per unit.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\nFormer State Bank of Pakistan governor Dr Reza Baqir said exchange-rate adjustments alone could not deliver sustained export growth without investment in productive capacity. Goods exports had recovered to around $33 billion to $34 billion on a rolling 12-month basis, while services exports had doubled over the previous five years.<\/p>\n<\/p>\nBaqir also suggested exploring ways for the government to share in the gains of businesses supported by public resources without interfering in their operations or shielding them from competition.<\/p>\n<\/p>\nSalman Burney, vice-chair of Habib Group and former managing director of GSK Pakistan, said economic pressures had pushed businesses to improve energy efficiency and productivity. Pakistani companies needed to identify sectors where the country had a genuine competitive advantage and invest more seriously in international markets.<\/p>\n<\/p>\nHalima Iqbal, founder and chief executive of Oraan, contributed to the discussion on women\u2019s participation in the economy. Aurangzeb said expanding women\u2019s education and workforce participation was important for long-term economic growth, alongside addressing climate change and population growth.<\/p>\n<\/p>\nThe discussion was moderated by Dr Ali Hasanain, Associate Professor in LUMS\u2019s Department of Economics. He said Pakistan needed to target annual economic growth of at least seven per cent and undertake deeper structural reforms to address recurring economic challenges.<\/p>\n<\/p>\nThe dialogue examined the transition from short-term economic stabilisation to a growth model based on exports, productivity, investment and private-sector leadership, highlighting the need for sustained reforms to improve Pakistan\u2019s long-term economic prospects.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAHORE (Sapeher Times): Pakistan must move beyond economic stabilisation towards export-led growth, higher productivity and private-sector investment to avoid another cycle of economic crises, Federal Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Saturday at a policy dialogue hosted by Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and the American Business Forum (ABF). Speaking at the session, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":347884,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-347885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-63","category-pakistan-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sapeher.dailysapehertimes.com.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sapeher.dailysapehertimes.com.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sapeher.dailysapehertimes.com.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sapeher.dailysapehertimes.com.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sapeher.dailysapehertimes.com.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=347885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sapeher.dailysapehertimes.com.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sapeher.dailysapehertimes.com.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/347884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sapeher.dailysapehertimes.com.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=347885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sapeher.dailysapehertimes.com.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=347885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sapeher.dailysapehertimes.com.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=347885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Aurangzeb said Pakistan had made progress in restoring macroeconomic stability, with the twin deficits declining from 12.5 per cent of gross domestic product at the beginning of the reform process to 2.6 per cent by the end of the last fiscal year. The fiscal deficit had reached a 22-year low, while the current account deficit stood at around 0.1 per cent of GDP.<\/p>\n
Foreign exchange reserves had risen to more than three months of import cover, compared with barely two weeks at the height of the crisis. Pakistan had also received three credit-rating upgrades since April last year, he said.<\/p>\n
The minister stressed that stability alone would not deliver sustainable growth without fundamental changes to the economy. Reforms in taxation, privatisation, debt management and tariff policy were aimed at improving competitiveness and creating conditions for private businesses to invest, expand and generate employment.<\/p>\n
He said the government was shifting towards a model in which the private sector leads economic activity, while the state provides an enabling environment. As part of this approach, decision-making over the approximately Rs40 billion Export Development Fund had been shifted away from bureaucratic control towards the private sector, allowing exporters to set priorities according to their needs.<\/p>\n
Aurangzeb also highlighted reforms in livestock and dairy, privatisation and energy policy. He said livestock and dairy accounted for around 63 per cent of agricultural GDP, while the government was pursuing the privatisation of state-owned enterprises and receiving bids for three power distribution companies.<\/p>\n
On export competitiveness, he said tariff reforms were intended to reduce the cost of imported raw materials and intermediate goods. Pakistan needed to move away from prolonged protection and strengthen its ability to compete in international markets.<\/p>\n
IT services exports had risen from less than $1 billion to $4.6 billion and were expected to reach $5.5 billion in the current fiscal year, Aurangzeb said. Measures to support exporters included financing at 4.5 per cent and surplus electricity at Rs23 per unit.<\/p>\n
Former State Bank of Pakistan governor Dr Reza Baqir said exchange-rate adjustments alone could not deliver sustained export growth without investment in productive capacity. Goods exports had recovered to around $33 billion to $34 billion on a rolling 12-month basis, while services exports had doubled over the previous five years.<\/p>\n
Baqir also suggested exploring ways for the government to share in the gains of businesses supported by public resources without interfering in their operations or shielding them from competition.<\/p>\n
Salman Burney, vice-chair of Habib Group and former managing director of GSK Pakistan, said economic pressures had pushed businesses to improve energy efficiency and productivity. Pakistani companies needed to identify sectors where the country had a genuine competitive advantage and invest more seriously in international markets.<\/p>\n
Halima Iqbal, founder and chief executive of Oraan, contributed to the discussion on women\u2019s participation in the economy. Aurangzeb said expanding women\u2019s education and workforce participation was important for long-term economic growth, alongside addressing climate change and population growth.<\/p>\n
The discussion was moderated by Dr Ali Hasanain, Associate Professor in LUMS\u2019s Department of Economics. He said Pakistan needed to target annual economic growth of at least seven per cent and undertake deeper structural reforms to address recurring economic challenges.<\/p>\n
The dialogue examined the transition from short-term economic stabilisation to a growth model based on exports, productivity, investment and private-sector leadership, highlighting the need for sustained reforms to improve Pakistan\u2019s long-term economic prospects.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LAHORE (Sapeher Times): Pakistan must move beyond economic stabilisation towards export-led growth, higher productivity and private-sector investment to avoid another cycle of economic crises, Federal Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Saturday at a policy dialogue hosted by Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and the American Business Forum (ABF). Speaking at the session, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":347884,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-347885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-63","category-pakistan-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sapeher.dailysapehertimes.com.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sapeher.dailysapehertimes.com.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sapeher.dailysapehertimes.com.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sapeher.dailysapehertimes.com.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sapeher.dailysapehertimes.com.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=347885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sapeher.dailysapehertimes.com.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sapeher.dailysapehertimes.com.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/347884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sapeher.dailysapehertimes.com.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=347885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sapeher.dailysapehertimes.com.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=347885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sapeher.dailysapehertimes.com.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=347885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}