ISLAMABAD: Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal said the economy is in recovery mode and stressed political stability and continuity in policies to achieve the long-term economic goals.
The minister made the remarks at the launch of a report “One Year Growth Strategy for Pakistan,” which was organised by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economic (PIDE), an Islamabad-based think-tank.
He urged the key stakeholders to focus on governance and said that development is contingent upon continuity in the implementation of policies as every developed country witnessed growth after executing the policies persistently for 10 years.
“We are going to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Pakistan’s independence and this is the time we can turn around the country by focusing on key areas like tax collection, remittance, foreign direct investment and exports,” Iqbal said.
Economic growth goes hand in hand with foreign direct investment in the export sector, he added.
Expressing regret about the performance of the agriculture sector, Iqbal noted that Pakistan could not achieve a productivity increase in it, adding that it is a big challenge to achieve self-sufficiency in this area which is the backbone of the economy.
“Small and medium enterprise sector will be promoted as the engine of growth to put the economic development on the growth trajectory,” according to the minister.
