Staff Reporter
Karachi
Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh has said economy was now moving forward on the right path after gaining stability due to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government’s prudent and timely policies.
He expressed these views while addressing the meeting of business community organized by Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry here on Saturday.
The government was confident to surpass the growth target set for the current fiscal year the country was moving fast towards the right path on the internal and external fronts, he added. The government had to take tough decisions to restore the economy affected by coronavirus pandemic for benefiting common people by adopting prudent measures, he added.
The government took austerity measures and reduced its expenditures, besides freezing expenditures of military and pay of high officials, he added. Besides freezing all expenditures, no new tax was imposed in the budget, he said adding, no supplementary grants were approved. The expenditures of Prime Minister House were decreased by 35 per cent, while expenditures of President House were decreased by 30 per cent, the advisor said.
The government has repaid five thousand billion rupees debt during the last two years, he informed.
When Covid-19 hit the whole world, there were two immediate challenges faced by the country. The first challenge was to save common people from its economic effects and other to protect businesses, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh said. The government announced Rs1240 billion relief package, with different components, the biggest one to transfer cash to common and vulnerable people, it was historic, he said adding, Rs 250 billion were disbursed among 16 million people without any discrimination and irrespective of geographic or political affiliation.
