Painting a rosy picture of the economy, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has claimed that the government has set the country on the road of progress despite the fact that it had inherited a broken economy when it assumed the office in 2013. He also saysthat the government has ensured a remarkable economic recovery during a short span of time by introducing macroeconomic reforms and tax recovery schemes. Addressing at John Hopkins University in the United States, he expressed in details the economic recovery plan adopted by the government and emerging political role of the country in the regions which helped the government secure a three-year Extended Fund Facility programme from the IMF in September last year amounting to $6.4 billion.The minister also claimed that the government had achieved 4.14 percent economic growth in fiscal year 2013-14, increased per capita income by 3.5 percent and registered a growth of 5.8 percent in the industrial sector. Besides, inflation has been curtailed from 12 percent to 8.6 percent and the FBR revenues are up by 16.4 percent, rising from Rs 1,946 billion to Rs 2,266 billion during 2013-14. The fiscal deficit, which was registered at 8.2 percent of the GDP has been brought down to 5.7 percent.Dar says that the government borrowings from the State Bank of Pakistan were Rs1,446 billion during 2012-13, but have been reduced to Rs303 billion while exports were recorded at $25.13 billion, registering an increase of 2.73percent than the previous year.Remittances sent by the expatriate Pakistanis have increased to $15.83 billion, showing their trust in the government policies.
As a matter of fact every sitting government in Pakistan makes tall claims about the economic recovery, but the bubble of claims bursts soon after it leaves the office. If the government is really sincere in doing something for the nation, it should adopt concrete measures as actions speak louder than words. Mere lip service without taking any practical steps will never change the lot of the people. The economic indicators presented by independent observers and foreign agencies exhibit very gloomy picture of the economy. The local industry is fighting for its survival due to energy crisis while a hostile official mechanism is always there to do everything in its control to let it down.
