Aurangzeb terms agriculture, IT as backbone of country’s economy

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb said that agriculture and information technology (IT) were the backbone of country’s economy and the real levers of economic growth.

Aurangzeb made these comments during a meeting with Deputy Director in the Office of International Affairs at the US Commodity Future Trading Commission (CFTC), Kevin Piccoli who called on the minister here.

Chairman Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Akif Saeed and senior officials from the Finance Division and officials from US Embassy in Pakistan also attended the meeting.

They discussed the role of agricultural commodities market and the collaboration between SECP and CFTC for an ongoing series of capacity-building training sessions on the development of commodities futures market, regulation and oversight leading to a well-functioning commodities market in Pakistan.

On the occasion, the minister welcomed the initiative and highlighted the role of agriculture in Pakistan’s economy, particularly its contribution to the GDP of the country.

He noted that while country’s economy during FY2024 grew by 2.38 per cent, agriculture emerged as a main driver of economic growth, registering an impressive growth of 6.25 per cent due to double- digit growth in output of major crops.

He said, agriculture and IT were largely driven by domestic factors in Pakistan and a healthy and consistent growth in these sectors was a positive sign and a stabilizing factor in view of their export potential.