Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has warned that protests, marches and sit-ins could inflict losses of up to Rs120 billion on the national economy each day, describing such disruption as “self-inflicted pain”.
His comments came as opposition groups, including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), intensified their respective protest campaigns against the government.
The PTI has announced a nationwide protest movement for September 27, with demands including the release of party founder Imran Khan, constitutional supremacy, and the enforcement of the rule of law.
Meanwhile, the JI has planned a march towards Islamabad to protest the petroleum development levy and the rising cost of fuel.
In a statement on Sunday, Aurangzeb said protests and disruptions were difficult to justify when Pakistan had made significant progress towards economic stability. He cautioned that interruptions to economic activity could derail the country’s shift from stabilisation towards sustained growth.
The minister said the country’s foreign exchange reserves had climbed to $21.4 billion, describing the level as the highest in Pakistan’s history. He added that the government was working to contain expenditure, while the fiscal deficit had fallen substantially and the current account remained in surplus.
According to Aurangzeb, remittances were continuing to rise and exports were showing improvement, with hopes that economic growth would gain further momentum.
He said Pakistan’s economy grew by 3.7% in the previous fiscal year, while growth in the ongoing fiscal year was expected to surpass 4%.
Aurangzeb also pointed to signs of recovery in large-scale manufacturing, along with higher corporate earnings and increased activity in the stock market.
He said 11 initial public offerings (IPOs) were completed last year, compared with five during the first two months of the current fiscal year, reflecting growing confidence in the country’s investment and business environment.
The finance minister said the government had set a goods export target of $32.9 billion for the current fiscal year and expected exports to grow by around 6%.
With average daily goods exports standing at nearly $90 million, he warned that strikes could, in a worst-case scenario, cut daily exports by half.
Aurangzeb said IT exports and services were projected to rise from $4.6 billion to $5.5 billion. IT exports had already reached about $811 million in the first two months of the fiscal year, he added.
He cautioned that disruptions to internet services could severely affect the IT sector, which had suffered losses of as much as 80% during previous worst-case situations.
Aurangzeb estimated that disruptions could cause losses of about Rs86 billion a day in the services sector and nearly Rs25 billion in the industrial sector.
He further estimated revenue losses of around Rs17 billion per day, taking the potential overall economic impact to approximately Rs120 billion daily.
The minister said ordinary citizens and daily-wage workers would bear the immediate consequences of such disruption, while small retailers and businesses would also face direct losses.
Aurangzeb said tax collection had risen by about 40% over the past two years, while Pakistan had attracted $311 million in foreign direct investment during the period under discussion.
He stressed that economic stability was essential for attracting foreign capital, adding that overseas investment tended to increase after confidence among local investors improved.
The minister also referred to challenges arising from developments in the Middle East, saying disruptions in supply chains, along with higher freight and insurance costs, were creating additional pressure on global trade.
Aurangzeb called for Pakistan to maintain its economic momentum and move beyond stabilisation towards higher growth, stronger exports and greater investment.
He urged political stakeholders to settle differences through dialogue and consensus, stressing that economic stability and the country’s growth trajectory should not be jeopardised.
