For the first time in the history of Pakistan, government revenues this month will cross Rs4 trillion, Finance Minister Shaukat Tareen said.
In a budget webinar on Sunday, he said that the pandemic pushed Pakistan’s economic growth rate to negative last year. “The government then introduced a fiscal stimulus by giving the poor money.”
A liquidity stimulus was given by the state bank to both big and small businesses. “The prime minister did a great job by introducing the construction package,” Tareen remarked.
“He [PM] realised that construction is one industry which doesn’t just bring in labour but also supports around 40 to 42 industries on its own.”
When construction was incentivised, the economy started to stabilise and the current account deficit curtailed, the minister pointed out. Economic growth started recovering this year as exports, agriculture, services sector and housing started to pick up.
When this happened, revenues increased. “We have seen a 3.94% increase in economic growth,” Tareen said.
But this is where we are now. What do we want in future? “It’s an inclusive and sustainable growth over a long period of time.”
The Economic Advisory Council is working on how this can be achieved and we will have answers soon, the minister promised.
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