TALKING to Khaleej Times on Sunday, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, has pinned hopes on saying goodbye to International Monetary Fund (IMF) after completing the ongoing funding facility provided the country achieves six percent growth rate for the next fiscal year.
He said Pakistan’s economy is on the right track to post an inclusive and sustainable growth of up to five percent this year that will help the country get rid of the international lender in September.
Big claims such as breaking the begging bowl and getting rid of the shackles of IMF were also made by the previous regimes.
Especially during Musharraf’s Government, the then Prime Minister Shaukat Tarin also claimed to have broken the IMF begging bowl but at the end of its tenure, the country faced yet another balance of payment crisis and the next Government had to once again knock at the doors of the international lender.
The fact of the matter is that the country’s economy has been witnessing volatile growth pattern over the years, with regular boom and bust cycles facing challenges in achieving long-term and inclusive growth.
Unsustainable economic growth was caused by unaddressed long-standing structural issues, for example, loss-making State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), weak external position due to insufficient export capacity and low FDI, under-reformed energy sector, low savings and investment.
In the backdrop of these challenges, the present Government really has focused on an economic vision of getting sustainable economic growth through improving efficiency, reducing cost of doing business, improving regulatory environment, enhancing productivity and increasing investment.
Nonetheless, the country is still faced with issues such as current account deficit, rising circular debt and so on.
Given the capability of Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, one has full faith in him and the entire nation also wants to get rid of the chains of international lenders which dictate their terms to the Government, leaving little room to it to provide relief to the common man.
No matter what the critics say, the people of this country will always remember PTI Government, if it really succeeds in materializing the long cherished dream of breaking the begging bowl once and for all.
To achieve this, we will really have to substantially bolster our exports by focusing on productive sectors especially industries, Information Technology and agriculture.
