ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal on Wednesday highlighted the need for political stability and continuity of economic policies to put Pakistan on a sustained growth trajectory and attain social prosperity.
Addressing the Pakistan Development Summit, the minister said that Pakistan is blessed with all natural resources and by mobilizing these resources, we can take it on the path of rapid economic growth and social development within a 10-year time period.
The theme of the event was “5Es Framework Road map to a Trillion Dollar Economy by 2035,” which aimed to bring together stakeholders from academia, industry, and sectoral professionals to shape the future of Pakistan’s economic growth.
Speaking on the occasion, Ahsan Iqbal stressed the need to devise an economic charter, besides maintaining the continuity of the economic policies to turn around Pakistan’s economy.
He said that peace and political stability in the country were the other prerequisite elements to put the nation on a fast track to economic development.
The minister also urged the need for an accelerated pace of economic growth and development not only to compete with the regional nations but to bring it at par with these economies.
Ahsan Iqbal Highlights Importance of CPEC
Highlighting the importance of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Project (CPEC), he said that it was a game-changer project, which would help to transform local industrial and agriculture sectors.
He also urged for mobilizing domestic resources to meet the financial needs and reducing the reliance on borrowing.
The minister said that the income of the government was 7,000 billion rupees and debt repayment was 8,000 billion rupees, adding that it was borrowing Rs1,000 billion per annum to bridge the gap between income and expenditure.
He added that more than half of the country’s population does not pay the electricity bill, while large businesses and traders are not paying their due taxes.
He emphasized the need to promote a tax compliance culture to generate resources to meet expenses.
The minister also stressed the need to strengthen the foreign exchange reserves to ensure the timely payments of all international commitments.
