DAVOS – Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Thursday said Climate Change has a real impact on Pakistan’s GDP growth and resources.
He expressed these views during a discussion on global debt at World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
The Minister said Climate Change for Pakistan is real because the frequency and intensity of climate related calamities are increasing.
He highlighted that the government of Pakistan has decided to launch an inaugural Panda Bond by the end of this month.
Muhammad Aurangzeb said this is going to be a green bond which will help people.
Meanwhile, speaking at a high-level panel discussion held on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, the underscored the importance of fiscal discipline, productive use of debt and export-led growth as key pathways to unlocking new sources of economic growth.
He said that for countries like Pakistan, debt must be directed toward investments that generate exportable surplus rather than consumption, enabling sustainable repayment and long-term growth.
A day earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif 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 government’s untiring efforts, the Prime Minister said macroeconomic indicators are pretty reassuring, inflation rate is down from 30 percent to 5.5 percent, policy rate declined from a steep 22.5 percent to 10.5 percent, while IT exports are showing significant progress.
Emphasizing an export-led growth, Shehbaz Sharif said the government brought structural reforms in the revenue collection system. He added that tax collection to GDP ratio is 10.5 percent today, which was nine percent a couple of years ago.
The Prime Minister said agri-exports are also on the rise. He said Pakistan has signed agreements with American and Chinese companies. He said now the government has decided to move forward at lightning speed in diverse areas, including crypto, Artificial Intelligence, and IT. He said the government is extending all possible facilitation to enhance IT exports, including training and certification.
Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan has strong economic connections with China and the United States. He expressed the hope that there will be more cooperation in the fields of mines and minerals, counter-terrorism, information technology and the artificial intelligence.
Shehbaz Sharif further said the government is encouraging the private sector and it recently completed the privatization of Pakistan International Airlines in a transparent manner. He said now the government is going to outsource airports, privatize power distribution companies, and transmission lines.
