ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Minister for Finance Muhammad Aurangzeb on Thursday reiterated the need for structural reforms to ensure the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) with International Monetary Fund (IMF) is the South Asian nation’s last programme, highlighting the significance of privatization, export-led growth, and foreign direct investment to sustainable macroeconomic stability.
Speaking at the Ground Breaking Ceremony of the Head Office Building of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), he said, the Staff Level Agreement (SLA) has been inked with IMF and it would go to fund’s board for final approval. He said, “So under the fund umbrella, it is not only getting the fund but also making sure that this time we do the structural reforms,”.
“If we have to make it last programme of the IMF then whether it is on taxation side, SOE reforms, energy side, and the privatization side, we have to move forward as we do not have the room and the space any more to dither on this agenda” Muhammad Aurangzeb said.
He stated that upgrade in Pakistan’s rating by Fitch, an international credit rating agency, and the policy rate reduction by the country’s central bank were direct manifestations of macroeconomic stability that the government of Pakistan has been following.
He stated, the economic team would pursue this agenda. However, he maintained there was need to bring permanence into it. “Stabilization would lead towards growth, so we have to bring permanence,” the minister added.
Talking regarding the role of private sector, he said, it has been decided in the cabinet committee on State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) that all insurance firms under the public sector will be handed over the private sector.
