ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s finance minister Miftah Ismail told an international publication on Saturday he expected the economy to grow more than 3.5 percent in the current fiscal year while urging the nation to “live within its means.”
The country recently managed to secure $1.16 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) amid tough economic challenges that led to speculations of an imminent default.
Pakistan has also received investment and loan pledges of $9 billion from friendly nations like Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
Speaking to Bloomberg News, the finance minister said he hoped that about $1 billion of investment would flow into listed state-owned companies within the next one month.
“Ismail expects economic growth of more than 3.5 percent for the fiscal year that started in July, down from an initial target of 5 percent,” reported the international publication. “He predicts that inflation, running at the highest in 47 years and the second highest in Asia, is close to its peak and will average 15 percent for the year.”
Pakistan's Finance Minister Miftah Ismail speaks during the launch ceremony of 'Economy Survey 2021-22' in Islamabad on June 9, 2022. (AFP/FILE)
Pakistan’s economic situation has become even more difficult in the wake of the recent floods that have affected the lives of 33 million people – or about 15 percent of the country’s total population – while depriving hundreds of thousands of their livelihood after they lost crops and livestock.
For now, the Pakistani finance minister has tried to reduce the country’s trade gap and current account deficit since taking over the office earlier this year.
“I want to see a Pakistan that lives within its means. That’s it,” he said. “Nothing can happen in one year, but we can start.”
Ismail restricted imports of luxury goods, including automobiles and automotive parts, in recent months. While the measure was only supposed to last for a brief period, said Bloomberg, the impact of the floods could lead to its extension.
“If I have limited dollars, I will absolutely make sure that I use them to buy wheat, I use them to buy edible things for our people,” the finance minister added. “Maybe we can delay buying Audis and Mercedes.”
Pakistan has already decided to import necessary food items like tomatoes and onions from Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey to deal with the market shortage of these vegetables.
Bloomberg said the government would also allow substantial cotton import since the country’s export revenue is dominated by textiles and much of Pakistan’s cotton crop was washed away by floods.
