Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin has said if the current pace of growing economy continues, five percent economic growth in 2021-22 and over six percent in 2022-23 is expected.
Addressing a virtual press conference on Sunday, the finance minister added that the government has developed short and long-term plans to achieve the target.
He said that the government is focusing on enhancing exports, revenue collection and other administrative measures to achieve inclusive and sustainable economic growth. He said that recent indicators show an economic growth of 3.94 percent, but unfortunately deliberated attempts were made to make these statistics controversial. He said the government paid special attention to targeted sectors like housing, agriculture and export-oriented industry, which led to economic stability and growth.
The finance minister said that the Covid-19 has impacted the economy, adding the country dealt with Covid-19 situation in a better way and policies adopted by Prime Minister Imran Khan have saved the economy from getting badly hit by the pandemic.
He further said that the government focused on the construction, agriculture and exports sector during the pandemic that helped in economic stability and growth.
Tarin further negated an impression that Pakistan is self-sufficient in food production and said that they now face a shortage in this regard and had to deal with the hoarding issue in a strict manner.
“We want farmers to sell their products directly to the market,” he said, adding that they had to further work on increasing yield in the agriculture sector.
Sharing future economic plans, Tarin said that the government would now focus on economic growth that would help in lowering unemployment and rising income levels. He credited PM Imran Khan for a record increase in remittances and said that it was owing to the trust people have in Imran Khan.
He further stressed the need for developing all parts of the country rather than spending 90 percent of the budget on nine major cities in the country.
