ISLAMABAD: As the country has been facing a record high inflation with an unprecedented rise in petroleum and electricity prices and low forex reserves, experts and officials have called for enhanced measures to secure an economic turnaround amid challenges.
The agreement reached between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday under which Islamabad will receive over $1 billion in a loan tranche is a welcoming development for the country, Vaqar Ahmed, an economist, told Xinhua.
“It will cushion the economy and provide much-needed support in the face of depleting foreign exchange reserves and rising external debt servicing,” he said, adding that now the government should move forward making significant structural policies to get desirable economic results in the future.
Instead of giving subsidies to people, the government should create opportunities with the aim of overall economic and financial growth, said Ahmed, also joint executive director at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), an Islamabad-based think tank.
“Special attention should be given to major areas of the economy including the agricultural sector, export-based industries, science and technology, and special economic zones for economic development,” he said.
In an attempt to provide relief to the inflation-hit nation, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Thursday announced a reduction of over Rs18 in the price of petrol and more than Rs40 in diesel price.
“There has been a major reduction in global oil prices and therefore the government has decided to pass on the relief to the Pakistani consumers,” the prime minister said, while expressing the determination of his government to put the country on the path of economic development during the next few months.
Taking cues from the dip in global oil prices and the IMF bailout package, bullish sentiments prevailed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the key index gaining nearly 500 points on Thursday.
The rupee strengthened against the U.S. dollar at 209.75 in the inter-bank market late on Friday compared with 210.10 on Thursday, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
Humayun Iqbal Shami, chairman of the Islamabad-based think tank Pakistan Economic Forum, said that instead of relying on the IMF, it is necessary for Pakistan to move towards self-sufficiency and for that, the country has all the potential needed.
“We need to attract foreign direct investments by providing a desirable environment to foreign investors, promote industrialization, and other vital sectors of the economy,” Shami told Xinhua.
