Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif meets his Palestinian counterpart Mohammad Mustafa in Davos. Photo: APP
ISLAMABAD:
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday briefed International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Pakistan’s improving macroeconomic indicators, stabilization efforts and progress on structural reforms.
He underlined Pakistan’s commitment to fiscal discipline, revenue mobilization and sustainable growth.
The Prime Minister met the IMF Managing Director in Davos, Switzerland, on the sidelines of the 56th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, the media wing of the Prime Minister’s Office said in a press release.
The meeting was also attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Federal Minister for Economy Ahad Khan Cheema, Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb and Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar.
The IMF Managing Director recognized and appreciated Pakistan’s reform efforts and stressed the importance of maintaining reform momentum to ensure long-term economic resilience.
The two sides exchanged views on the global economic outlook, challenges facing emerging economies and the importance of multilateral support to safeguard economic stability.
Pakistani breakfast
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday said Pakistan will take off quickly in agriculture, industry, mining, artificial intelligence and information technology.
He was speaking at the “Pakistani Breakfast” in Davos, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.
Highlighting the tireless efforts of the government, the Prime Minister said that macroeconomic indicators are quite reassuring, the inflation rate is down from 30 percent to 5.5 percent, the policy rate has come down from 22.5 percent to 10.5 percent, while IT exports are showing significant progress.
Highlighting export-led growth, Shehbaz Sharif said the government had introduced structural reforms in the revenue collection system. He added that the ratio of tax collection to GDP today is 10.5 percent, compared to 9 percent a few years ago.
The Prime Minister said agricultural exports are also on the rise. He said Pakistan had signed agreements with American and Chinese companies. He said the government had now decided to move forward at lightning speed in various areas, including cryptography, artificial intelligence and IT. He said the government was extending all possible measures to improve IT exports, including training and certification.
Sharif said Pakistan enjoyed close economic ties with China and the United States. He expressed hope that there will be more cooperation in the fields of mines and minerals, counter-terrorism, information technology and artificial intelligence.
Sharif further said that the government encourages the private sector and recently completed the privatization of Pakistan International Airlines in a transparent manner. He said the government would now outsource airports, privatize power distribution companies and transmission lines.
Macroeconomic indicators
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan’s economy was showing clear signs of improvement and the country was moving forward with renewed confidence as key economic indicators continued to strengthen.
Addressing an event at the Pakistan Pavilion on the sidelines of the 56th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, the Prime Minister said Pakistan had achieved macroeconomic stability after difficult but necessary reforms and was now firmly focused on export-led growth and sustainable development.
“Our inflation fell sharply from 30 percent to 5.5 percent, while the policy rate was reduced from 22.5 percent to 10.5 percent,” he said, adding that the improvement reflected disciplined economic management. He noted that Pakistan’s information technology exports had shown reassuring progress and now stood at around $3 billion annually through offshore channels.
The Prime Minister said Pakistan’s exports continued to face challenges but the path forward was unambiguous. “Pakistan must pursue export-led growth,” he said, emphasizing that reforms in revenue collection are a key pillar of the strategy.
He said the government had introduced fundamental changes in the tax system, which was fully digitalized. As a result, the tax-to-GDP ratio increased from 9% a few years ago to 10.5%, which is a significant achievement.
Highlighting sectoral opportunities, Prime Minister Shehbaz said agricultural exports had performed well in the previous year, while Pakistan was venturing into the mining and minerals sector.
He said agreements had been signed with American and Chinese companies to exploit the country’s vast untapped resources in Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
He said Pakistan was also making rapid progress in emerging areas such as information technology, artificial intelligence and cryptography, calling the country’s large young population both a challenge and an opportunity.
The Prime Minister said the federal and provincial governments were jointly implementing programs aimed at empowering youth through vocational and technical training. He cited the role of the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NVTTC), noting that its programs were subject to third-party audits and international certification, enabling Pakistani youth to obtain productive employment in the Gulf countries and beyond.
On foreign relations, he said Pakistan enjoyed strong economic ties with China and was building cooperation with the United States, especially in mining, minerals, counter-terrorism and technology.
Prime Minister Shehbaz also highlighted transparent privatization efforts, including those of Pakistan International Airlines, and said further privatizations and outsourcing were planned in airports, power distribution companies and transmission lines.
Referring to the IMF programme, he said Pakistan had adhered to strict conditions in letter and spirit, adding that the Fund was now citing Pakistan as a success story for developing countries.
Regarding structural reforms, the Prime Minister said the government had taken difficult decisions to close loss-making and inefficient public entities. He said Utility Stores Corporation, which was a burden on the national exchequer and offered substandard products, was closed down to save public money. He added that Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (PASSCO) and Pakistan Public Works Department (PWD) were also closed, saving billions of rupees despite resistance from vested interests.
“We are at a point where Pakistan is on the verge of takeoff,” he said, stressing that unity, transparency and sustained reforms were essential to achieving long-term growth and prosperity.
Palestinian Prime Minister
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa on Wednesday, on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.
The Palestinian Prime Minister met with the Prime Minister and introduced himself, the media wing of the Prime Minister’s Office said in a press release.
He expressed gratitude to the Prime Minister for Pakistan’s constant, principled and strong support to the Palestinian people.
He also thanked Pakistan for its role in global forums in support of Palestine and its cause.
(With addition of Radio Pakistan)
