Economy moving forward on right path: Hafeez Sheikh

KARACHI: Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh has said economy was now moving forward on the right path after gaining stability due to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government’s prudent and timely policies.He expressed these views while addressing a meeting of the business community organised by the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI) here on Saturday.

He said the government was confident to surpass the growth target set for the current fiscal year, and the country was moving fast towards the right path on internal and external fronts.

The adviser said the government had to take tough decisions to restore the economy affected by coronavirus pandemic for benefiting the common people by adopting prudent measures. He said the government took austerity measures and reduced its expenditures, besides freezing expenditures of military and pay of high officials.

“Besides freezing all expenditures, no new tax was imposed in the budget,” he said, adding, that no supplementary grants were approved.

The adviser said the expenditures of the Prime Minister House were decreased by 35 percent, while expenditures of the President House were decreased by 30 percent. He said the government has repaid Rs5 trillion debt during the last two years.

The adviser said when Covid-19 hit the whole world, there were two immediate challenges faced by the country. “The first challenge was to save common people from its economic effects and other to protect businesses,” Dr Shaikh said.

He said the government announced Rs1,240 billion relief package, with different components, the biggest one to transfer cash to common and vulnerable people, it was historic. He said Rs250 billion was disbursed among 16 million people without any discrimination and irrespective of geographic or political affiliation.

In addition to this, he said, the government ensured liquidity to the business community and helped them in many ways by offering soft loans, delaying their due loans, paying utility bills of small and medium enterprises.

Dr Shaikh said there had been growth in exports, reduction in the current account deficit and stable foreign exchange reserves. At the same time, he said, the overall revenue collection had also increased. He said the private sector, vulnerable segments of society, and ignored regions of the country were given special attention in the budget.

Dr Shaikh said Rs192 billion were provided for the development of tribal districts and subsidy was given on electricity, gas and on tube-wells.

"When I was privatisation minister back in 2006, the then government had privatised 34 SOEs," he said, adding, that since then no SOE was privatised.

The adviser said the neutral institutions of the world have been appreciative of the government policies. He said the government has a clear policy that all tax refunds, whether fresh or old, should be paid back without any excuse. He said efforts are being made to provide investment friendly atmosphere in the country.