Pakistan has performed exceptionally well in combating Covid-19: PM Imran Khan

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday reiterated that Pakistan performed exceptionally well in combating the Covid-19, compared to the countries in the region.

Chairing a meeting of the Macro Economic Advisery Group in Islamabad, he said the government’s policies of smart lockdown and incentive for the construction industry, social protection programmes and subsidies for industries, small and medium enterprises kept the economy growing at a steady pace which had been praised by commentators globally.

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The government’s three years were an economic success story as it inherited huge circular debt, anti-export policies, unsustainable fiscal conditions, a less competitive business environment and policies of lack of incentive for the private sector, he added.

The prime minister said that despite the worst balance of payments crisis in the history of Pakistan in 2018, economic difficulties due to Covid, high commodity prices in the global market and humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan with a direct and indirect impact on Pakistan, the growth was still expected to be above 4%, which was a huge achievement.

PM Imran directed the departments concerned to coordinate and implement the long term and short term plans for the further betterment of both the macro-economic condition of the county and improvement in the economic condition of the people.

Prime Minister @ImranKhanPTI chaired a meeting of the Macro Economic Advisory Group in Islamabad today.#APPNews #PMImranKhan #MicroEconomic @PakPMO @shaukat_tarin pic.twitter.com/tZOKUFcgjO

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The meeting was given a comprehensive overview of the overall economic situation of the country, the government’s steps to mitigate the effects of high commodity prices on common people and the government’s achievements in the last three years.

The meeting was informed that after successfully averting the crisis that the previous government left, robust economic stabilization measures were taken which resulted in high growth compared to all regional countries even in the tested times of Covid-19.

The exports showed an increase of 25%, tax revenues were record-high with an increase of 38%, and remittances also increased by 27%. Moreover, the agriculture sector witnessed record incomes, record-high profits of Rs950 billion by industries, the boom in the IT sector due to the government’s IT policy, reduction in monthly circular debt after successful IPP tariff agreements.

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In addition to the above, the government fulfilled its promise of a welfare state by launching the biggest social safety programme under Ehsaas.

The meeting was also presented with proposals to mitigate the transfer of the effects of high global commodity prices to common people. The proposals included an increase in incomes, purchasing power of the people, subsidies focused on middle and lower-income classes and expansion of the social safety net.