Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh has said the economy is now moving forward on the right path after gaining stability on the back of prudent and timely policies of the government.
While addressing the business community, during a meeting organised by the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI) on Saturday, Shaikh said the government was confident of surpassing the growth target set for the current fiscal year. “The country is moving fast towards the right path on the internal and external fronts,” he added.
The adviser was of the view that the government had to take tough decisions to restore the economy affected by the coronavirus pandemic for benefiting common people by adopting prudent measures.
“The government took austerity measures and reduced its expenditures, besides freezing expenditures of military and pay of high officials,” he added.
Besides freezing all expenditures, no new tax was imposed in the budget, he said, adding that no supplementary grants were approved.
The expenditures of PM House were decreased by a massive 35%, while expenditures of the President House were decreased by 30%, the adviser apprised.
“Furthermore, the government has repaid Rs5 trillion debt during the last two years,” he informed the businessmen.
“When Covid-19 hit the world, there were two immediate challenges faced by the country. The first challenge was to save common people from its economic effects and the other was to protect businesses,” Shaikh stated.
The adviser stated that the government has announced Rs1,240 billion relief package, with different components, the biggest one to transfer cash to common and vulnerable people. “An amount of Rs250 billion was disbursed among 16 million people without any discrimination and irrespective of their geographic or political affiliation.”
“In addition to this, the government ensured liquidity to the business community and helped them in ways by offering soft loans, delaying their due loans, paying utility bills of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).”
Shaikh highlighted there has been growth in exports, reduction in the current account deficit and stability in the foreign exchange reserves.
The stock market had also remained stable. At the same time, however, the overall revenue collection also increased, he added.
Shedding light on different sectors of the economy, the adviser said, private sector, vulnerable segments of society, and ignored regions of the country were given special attention in the budget. “An amount of Rs192 billion was provided for the development of FATA areas and subsidy was given on electricity, gas and tube-well,” he said.
Recalling his tenure as a privatisation minister, he said, “When I was a privatisation minister back in 2006, the then government had privatised 34 state-owned enterprises,” adding that since then no SOE has been privatised.
“The government has a clear policy that all tax refunds, whether fresh or old, should be paid back without any excuse,” Shaikh emphasised.
He pointed out that efforts are being made to provide an investment-friendly atmosphere in the country.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 13th, 2020
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