Govt’s investment in agriculture, industrial exports yielding results: Shaukat Tarin

KARACHI: The government’s investment in agriculture, housing and industrial sectors has started yielding positive results, as their exports grew 3.9 per cent last year, which is a welcome sign, a senior official said.

Addressing the annual dinner, organised by the CFA Society, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin on Friday highlighted the economic issues being faced by the country and discussed the development and government planning for the growth of the country.

Talking about the government’s economic policies, Tarin reiterated: “We are ahead of our target with Rs230 billion in revenues, and if we keep this momentum we will cross Rs6 trillion. It is not just because our imports have grown, but our tax collection also increased 32 per cent.”

“The electricity usage increased 13 per cent on a year-on-year basis, which shows that the economy is growing,” the adviser said.

“The government wants the agricultural growth, but unfortunately, the country has become food deficit with imports of wheat and sugar, cotton and palm oil. Last year, we spent $10 billion on cotton imports. We want to invest in revamping the agriculture sector of the country,” he added.

The adviser said the country’s exports are around 10 per cent of the GDP, while the imports are 25 per cent, which he called, “unsustainable growth”, adding that the government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) want sustainable growth for the country.

Talking about the dire situation of the country, Tarin said: “We entered a tough IMF programme, which led to a slowdown in our economy and then came the Covid-19, which had another negative effect on the economy,” adding that the government’s steps of lockdown were appreciated globally.

Discussing about the IMF deal and the development so far he said: “We had healthy discussions with the IMF. We are not far away from what the IMF wants from us. The IMF wants us to rationalise tax exemptions and to grow in a sustainable way.”

The IMF wants action, including ending tax exemptions, higher revenue generation and reforming income and other taxes, the adviser said.

Regarding bringing improvement in the lives of the underserved people of the country, the adviser said: “Trickle-down does not follow four year growth. That’s why we are adopting a bottom-up approach,” adding that the government will provide the four million poor households with interest-free loans for agriculture, business and housing purposes, with healthcare and technical education with a cost of Rs1.4 trillion.

Talking about the power shortage in the country, Tarin said: “The energy sector is bleeding heavily, and this year alone, the government will provide $770 billion to the power sector.”