ISLAMABAD: A day before the announcement of new budget for the fiscal year 2022-23, the coalition government highlighted the performance of the economy for the outgoing fiscal year with provisional growth of 5.97%, above the target of 4.8%.
It is a traditional that every year, the new economic survey is launched a day before the announcement of new budget to share with people the country’s economic performing during the outgoing financial year.
“The situation in Pakistan has remained the same — whenever the country records growth it gets into the crisis of current deficit which is very unfortunate,” Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said in press conference along with Ahsan Iqbal and Dr Ayesha Ghous Pasha.
He said, “The same has happened this time as well, the recent 5.97% growth recorded during the outgoing fiscal year 2021-22, according to the new estimates, has pushed Pakistan towards the balance of payments and current account deficit crisis.”
He further highlighted those imports have also increased by 48% as compared to the last fiscal year, while the exports also move up. He noted that the trade deficit stood at $45 billion.
Ismail said that years before, the exports were around half of the imports. However, the export-to-import ratio stands at 40:60 now, he said, adding that Pakistan could only finance 40% of its imports through exports and for the rest, it had to rely on remittances or loans — which makes the country stuck in a balance of payments.
The government achieved the most important economic target — GDP growth — and hence, it was less surprising that other goals were achieved as well.
More details will be added soon as press conference is still going on……..
