Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif meets with his Palestinian counterpart Mohammad Mustafa in Davos. Photo: APP
ISLAMABAD:
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday briefed International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Pakistan’s improving macroeconomic indicators, stabilization efforts and progress in structural reforms.
He underlined Pakistan’s commitment to fiscal discipline, revenue mobilization and sustainable growth.
The prime minister met the IMF managing director in Davos, Switzerland, on the sidelines of the 56th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, the PM Office Media Wing said in a press release.
The meeting was also attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for External Affairs Ishaq Dar, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Ahad Khan Cheema, Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb and Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar.
The IMF Managing Director acknowledged and appreciated Pakistan’s reform efforts and emphasized the importance of maintaining reform momentum to ensure long-term economic resilience.
Both sides exchanged views on the global economic outlook, the challenges facing emerging economies and the importance of multilateral support to safeguard economic stability.
Pakistan Breakfast
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday said Pakistan is going to take off rapidly in agriculture, industry, mining, artificial intelligence and information technology.
He was speaking at the “Pakistan Breakfast” in Davos, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.
Highlighting the untiring efforts of the government, the Prime Minister said that the macroeconomic indicators are quite reassuring, the inflation rate has come down from 30 per cent to 5.5 per cent, the policy rate decreased from steep 22.5 per cent to 10.5 per cent, while IT exports are showing significant progress.
Emphasizing export-led growth, Shehbaz Sharif said the government introduced structural reforms in the revenue collection system. He added that the ratio between tax collection and GDP is 10.5 percent today, up from nine percent a couple of years ago.
The Prime Minister stated that agricultural exports are also increasing. He said Pakistan has signed agreements with American and Chinese companies. He said that now the government has decided to move at lightning speed in various areas, including cryptocurrencies, artificial intelligence and information technologies. He said the government is expanding all possible measures to improve IT exports, including training and certification.
Sharif said Pakistan has strong economic connections with China and the United States. He expressed the hope that there will be greater cooperation in the fields of mines and minerals, counterterrorism, information technology and artificial intelligence.
Sharif further said that the government is encouraging the private sector and recently completed the privatization of Pakistan International Airlines in a transparent manner. He said that now the government is going to outsource airports, privatize power distribution companies and transmission lines.
Macroeconomic indicators
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan’s economy was showing clear signs of improvement and the country was moving forward with renewed confidence, as key economic indicators continued to strengthen.
Addressing an event at the Pakistan Pavilion on the sidelines of the 56th Annual Meetings of the World Economic Forum, the prime minister said Pakistan had achieved macroeconomic stability after difficult but necessary reforms and was now firmly focused on export-led growth and sustainable development.
“Our inflation has dropped sharply from 30 percent to 5.5 percent, while the official rate has dropped from 22.5 percent to 10.5 percent,” he said, adding that the improvement reflects disciplined economic management. He noted that Pakistan’s IT exports had shown reassuring progress and now amounted to around $3 billion annually through offshore channels.
The prime minister said Pakistan’s exports continued to face challenges but the future path was unequivocal. “Pakistan has to pursue export-led growth,” he said, underlining reforms in revenue collection as a key pillar of the strategy.
He said the government had introduced fundamental changes to the tax system, which was being completely digitalised. As a result, the tax-to-GDP ratio rose to 10.5 percent from 9 percent a few years ago, which is considered a significant achievement.
Highlighting sectoral opportunities, Prime Minister Shehbaz said agricultural exports had performed well in the previous year, while Pakistan was entering the mining and minerals sector.
He said agreements had been signed with American and Chinese companies to tap the country’s vast untapped resources in Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
He said Pakistan was also moving rapidly in emerging fields such as information technology, artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies, calling the country’s large youth population a challenge and an opportunity.
The prime minister said the federal and provincial governments were jointly implementing programs to empower youth through technical and vocational training. He cited the role of the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NVTTC), noting that its programs were subject to third-party audits and international certification, enabling Pakistani youth to secure productive employment in the Gulf countries and beyond.
On foreign relations, he said Pakistan enjoyed strong economic ties with China and was building cooperation with the United States, particularly in mining, minerals, counterterrorism and technology.
Prime Minister Shehbaz also highlighted transparent privatization efforts, including Pakistan International Airlines, and said more privatizations and outsourcing were planned in airports, power distribution companies and transmission lines.
Referring to the IMF programme, he said Pakistan had adhered to strict conditions in letter and spirit, adding that the Fund was now citing Pakistan as a success story for developing countries.
Regarding structural reforms, the prime minister said the government had taken difficult decisions to close loss-making and inefficient state entities. He said Utility Stores Corporation, which had been a burden on the national treasury and offered substandard products, had been closed to save public money. He added that Pakistan Agricultural Warehousing and Services Corporation (PASSCO) and Pakistan Public Works Department (PWD) had also been closed, resulting in savings of billions of rupees despite resistance from vested interests.
“We are at a point where Pakistan is about to take off,” he said, highlighting that unity, transparency and sustained reforms are essential to achieving long-term growth and prosperity.
Palestinian Prime Minister
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa on Wednesday on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.
The Palestinian prime minister met with the prime minister and introduced himself, the press wing of the prime minister’s office said in a press release.
He expressed gratitude to the Prime Minister for Pakistan’s consistent, firm and principled support to the Palestinian people.
He also thanked Pakistan for its role in global forums in support of Palestine and its cause.
(With the addition of Radio Pakistan)
