Islamabad: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb expressed the government’s commitment to fully facilitate the private sector to take the country towards export led growth.
Addressing inaugural session of the Saudi Arabia’s Investment conference the Finance Minister said the government is focusing on bringing foreign direct investment to uplift various sectors.
Giving on an overview of the country’s economic situation, the Finance Minister said it is on a positive trajectory. The agriculture GDP is growing at five percent on the back of bumper crops including that of sugarcane, rice, and wheat.
He was confident that the country’s current account deficit will be less than a billion dollar during this fiscal year.
He said our foreign exchange reserves have risen to nine billion dollars. He said the local currency is stable over the last ten months while the inflation is down to roughly seventeen percent. He said foreign buying is also coming in Pakistan Stock Market.
The Finance Minister said Pakistan is seeking a larger and longer program with the IMF for permanence in the macroeconomic stability and structural reforms.
He said the IMF mission is expected in Pakistan in the next seven to ten days to discuss the contours of the new program.
He said the government will also accelerate the privatization process.
