Interim Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar said on Friday there were “some signs” of economic recovery “even if they were just starting”.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad alongside other federal ministers, she said that while the interim set-up had inherited a set of challenges after coming into power, it was not worried and was “dealing” with them.
She said that the government was trying to manage the country’s challenges prudently by controlling expenditures and enhancing revenue. “Through this, the situation will improve.” “So if you review macroeconomic indictors, you will see some improvement. There are some signs of economic recovery even if its just starting.”
The minister said that the Consumer Price Index had shown a decline from May figures, down from 38 per cent to 27pc. “This is a very important indicator that (shows) that we have come out of difficulty,” she said, hoping that there would be stability in prices going forward.
Akhtar said that the country’s productive sectors had also seen some improvement. “By productive sector, I mean the agriculture sector. In this agriculture sector, we hope that our results will be good: whether its got to do with major crops or minor crops. Improved agriculture results will also improve our growth prospects.”
She said that the government had spoken to international donors. She said that she had spoken to the World Bank and the government was trying that the cumulative assistance comes up to $2 billion.
Meanwhile, Power Minister Muhammad Ali said the government has decided to stagger quarterly adjustments — spread over three months — in power bills to provide relief to consumers. Similar relief measures would also be provided in the payment of the base electricity tariff in Karachi. He also noted that the government’s crackdown on electricity theft across the country was yielding good results.
