Islamabad :June 11,2024 : Pakistan on Tuesday released Economic Survey 2023-24 here . Finance minister , Mohammad Aurangzeb , released the Economic Survey . He was accompanied by his junior minister , Ali Perez , and other senior officials of the Planning Division.
Unfolding details of Pakistan ‘s Economy Survey, the minister for Finance said Shahbaz Sharif government managed a Standby Arrangement (SBA) which was every , very crucial to move forward . He added that when the current government came in Pakistan ‘s economy was in a mess where Pakistan ‘s reserves were enough only for two weeks imports , GDP had shrunk by 5.3 % , large scale manufacturing (LSM) growth had touched the lowest level . The minister claimed that Shahbaz government ‘s decision to go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a Standby Arrangement (SBA) was fully correct and he thinks it helped Pakistan get out of the economic mess. He said current account deficit will be as per target of $ 1 billion. He said administrative steps like anti snuggling of money , “Hundi Hawala” and asked banks to open currency exchanges . He said these structural steps will help Pakistan stop “Sitta Bazi” once for all. He gave credit to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) for its timely measures for currency stability. According to the minister , reduction in policy rate is indicative of monetary easing. He said reduction in policy rate is going to have great impact in coming days. The minister said he expects to see policy rate in single digit in next fiscal year . Mohammad Aurangzeb noted that Pakistan is heading for a comfortable zone in very near future . Regarding talks with IMF , he said talks with IMF are going in the right direction. He said we have to take steps to put an end to bleeding of state owned enterprises (SMES). He said Pakistan has its own programme . He said there is no strategic institutions . Muhammad Aurangzeb termed the prime minister ‘s visit to China extremely important . In response to a question, the minister said there is no sacred cows and everyone has to pay taxes to make the country go forward. State minister , Ali Perez said the government is taking all those decisions which are in the best interest of Pakistan . He said the most important things is to consolidate the on-going reforms programme . He added that the government is taking all steps to protect inflation – hit segment of the society. He said non-filers will be taxed to discourage tax evasion.