ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kayani said on Monday that Pakistan’s economic stability hinges on sustained export-led growth, citing the government’s progress in improving key financial indicators over the past 18 months.
Speaking at a media briefing, Kayani said the government had achieved its target of maintaining a primary surplus without introducing a mini-budget. He highlighted that tax collection rose by 26 percent in the last fiscal year despite moderate GDP growth and a decline in inflation.
“We increased the Federal Board of Revenue’s tax-to-GDP ratio from 8.8 percent to around 10.3 percent while bringing inflation down from 33 percent to 4.5 percent,” he said. “We also recorded the first current account surplus in 14 years — the largest in 22 years — which helped stabilise foreign exchange reserves.”
The state minister added that the central bank’s policy rate had been cut in half, from 22 percent to 11 percent, following progress on inflation control.
Acknowledging recent privatisation milestones, Kayani noted that the sale of First Women Bank Ltd to Abu Dhabi’s International Holding Company was an important step toward strengthening Pakistan-UAE economic relations. He said work on privatising Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) was also advancing.
“The prime minister believes in private sector-led growth,” he said, adding that the government’s role was to create a stable policy environment and facilitate investment.
Kayani said Pakistan had overcome a severe economic crisis marked by depleted reserves and a risk of default last year, with assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and friendly countries including China, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia.
Following the reforms undertaken under the IMF programme, international rating agencies Fitch, Moody’s, and S&P Global upgraded Pakistan’s outlook.
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb recently said Pakistan was on track to achieve GDP growth of about 3.5 percent this fiscal year and had sufficient foreign exchange reserves to cover nearly three months of imports.
Earlier this month, Pakistan repaid a $500 million Eurobond on schedule — a move the government described as evidence of stronger reserves, fiscal discipline, and an improving debt profile.
