PM’s economic team notes hike in exports, decrease in current account deficit

ISLAMABAD: The economic team under Prime Minister Imran Khan Friday noted that exports have registered an increase and the current account deficit has been reduced by 31 percent.

The prime minister chaired a meeting of the economic team at PM’s Office. The meeting reviewed the current economic situation and initiatives of the government to improve the business climate, increase exports, reduce current account deficit and stabilising the economy.

It was noted that current financial year since July 2019 has commenced on a positive note. The international financial institutions such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank have restored budgetary support.

The meeting was informed that ECNEC also approved Rs579 billion for the projects in agriculture, water and infrastructure sectors including mass-transit projects for Karachi. The PM directed his economic team that promotion of Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) must be focused to enable such enterprises to flourish in the country.

The meeting agreed to promote dialogue with the business community to seek their views on increasing the pace of growth and achieving economic stability. The meeting was attended by Muhammad Hammad Azhar Minister for Economic Affairs, Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiyar Minister for Planning & Development, Omar Ayub Khan Minister for Power, Muhammad Mian Soomro Minister for Privatisation, Advisor on Finance Dr.

Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Advisor on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood, Adviser on Institutional Reforms Dr Ishrat Hussain, SAPM Dr Sania Nishtar, SAPM Nadeem Babar, SAPM Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, Chairman Board of Investment Syed Zubair Gilani, Chairman FBR Syed Shabbar Zaidi, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Jehanzeb Khan and senior officials of the government.