Pakistan economy going towards a steady growth despite pandemic woes

Recent financial reports show that Pakistan is steadily, but surely, moving towards recovering from the Coronavirus’s impact on the world’s economy.

Key economic indicators such as remittance growth, foreign direct investments (FDI), and tax collection numbers have all shown signs of improvement. In the first quarter of the financial year 2020-21 (FY20-21), Remittances have grown by 26.5 percent, FDI rose up to 9.1 percent, and tax collection has been up by 4.5 percent. The primary balance has had a surplus of 258 billion rupees.

July-October 2020 has reported a significant rise in sales of cars, motorbikes, and tractors as well, according to official APP reports. The PTI governments, “prudent and timely policies,” have made it possible to start large-scale manufacturing back up again, which has caused a growth of 4.8 percent.

The upward trend in foreign remittances and FDIs has given consumers more confidence in the economy of the country, a recent survey shows.

The PTI government has put in many pillars to strengthen the fiscal situation of the country in these recent times. Pakistan’s Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) ranking has gone up from 147th to 108th in the last two years. PM Imran Khan also facilitated farmers in these trying times by signing a 24-million-rupee package to cut input costs for farmers. He also set up relief packages for small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to help their owners out during locked down conditions. 15 million families across the country also received the 12,000-rupees immediate cash relief package courtesy of the Ehsaas Emergency Cash Programme put in place by the government.

Hammad Azhar, the current Federal Minister of Industries and Production, posted a tweet sharing this data:

'The recent data complements the strengthening and expansion of the economy in a "recovery" phase amid the coronavirus pandemic. It is also evidenced by the fact that Moody’s upgraded Pakistan’s economic outlook to 'Stable' in August 2020.' APP https://t.co/I1ZaWoppfu

— Hammad Azhar (@Hammad_Azhar) November 30, 2020