ISLAMABAD:Leader of the House in Senate Dr Shahzad Waseem Monday said Pakistan had achieved consistent economic growth due to prudent policies introduced by the PTI government.
“It is the manifesto of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government to strengthen the national economy on solid ground, as a result of which now the economy is growing with consistency,” he said while participating in a debate on motion moved by Senator Sherry Rehman.
Negating the impression of opposition parties about increase in unemployment, he said the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate stood at 5.3 percent, which was acknowledged by world ranking institutions and financial experts. “Growth rate is considered an indicator of employment in various aspects.”
He said agriculture, large scale-manufacturing and services sectors witnessed remarkable growth, which was indicative of creation of more employment opportunities.
He said there was bumper production of all main crops; besides the PTI government moved the industrial wheel with full force despite economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
He said the government gave incentives to the industrial sector and took required measures under its strategy of ease-of-doing business, which resulted in giving a boom to industrial production and creation of further jobs.
He said the incumbent government gave confidence to youth by extending financial assistance in start-ups, which brought significant foreign exchange in the country.
Winding up the debate, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan said the country’s exports remained at the highest level of around $2 billion per month as compared to the last tenure of the PML-N government, which had now increased $ 3 billion per month.
Currently, he said, all economic indicators were on the growth trajectory and the national economy was moving in the right direction, which was duly acknowledged by international rating agencies and analysts.
“Today, the reserves are at around $ 20 billion and the country has the import bill for three months, which is considered necessary for any country,” he said.
He said 90 percent jobs of the COVID-affected people had been restored in the country, which was acknowledged by the Economic Magazine ranking Pakistan among three top countries, in the list of 200, who returned to normalcy after being hit by the COVID.
He said, due to the wise leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, Pakistan did not go for the complete lockdown and opted for the smart lockdown strategy, which kept the economic wheel moving.
During the COVID, he said, the government kept the construction industry fully open that provided employment to the labor community and moved the wheel of dozens of other attached sectors.
He said the government earmarked billions of rupees for providing low-cost housing units to low income groups.
He said the PM gave an Rs 1.2 trillion emergency relief package for financial assistance of the common man in different sectors.
The minister said Pakistan achieved remarkable growth in different sectors including exports, textile, agriculture, manufacturing and engineering.
He expressed confidence that this year Pakistan’s exports would touch the record figure of $30 billion.