Foreign researchers from Harvard University’s center for international development have predicted a 6% growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for Pakistan in the next decade.
Also Read: Economic survey of Pakistan
Factors for economic stability
In a press statement issued here on Sunday, the Pakistan Muslim League- N (PML-N) leader and member of Punjab Assembly, Irfan Daultana credited PML-N for bringing economic stability in the country. He said the projection has been made keeping in mind the stability which PML-N government has successfully brought in Pakistan.
He also added:
“Sagacious economic policies of PML-N has won confidence of the world and various international institutions have acknowledged Pakistan as a fast growing economy”
During the FY2016-17, the GDP growth rate of Pakistan was recorded at 5.3%, as stated by Daultana. Moreover, he also said that agriculture and services sectors have seen considerable growth. He stated:
“Increase in agriculture growth is because the government provided easy loans and other facilities to the farmers. Agriculture sector got 9.7pc growth till April 2017”
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According to Daultana, iron and steel products have got a substantial growth of 20.26%. Moreover, the automobile sector has witnessed 11.41% growth while electronics and pharmaceuticals have got 15.11% and 9.1% growth respectively.
Interestingly, all these claims shared as a Harvard analytics report by the PML-N spokesperson came at a time when the World Bank (WB) has suspended its loans/budgetary support programme for Pakistan citing reasons of deteriorating macroeconomic indicators.
While the World bank may continue providing project loans to Pakistan, the Washington-based lender has clearly stated that Pakistan’s financial situation demands serious introspection by Islamabad.
Currently, the foreign currency reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan stand at $14.7 billion with net reserves barely sufficient to suffice three months import bill requirements.
The News quoted World Bank sources in Washington confirming the situation by saying:
“Last month, the WB team conveyed Pakistani authorities that they cannot provide programme loans/budgetary support because of macroeconomic indicators.”
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