Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning, Development & Reform Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtyar has said that the economic and social objectives of the government are to protect and provide relief to the marginalized segments of the society by prioritising human resource development, social security, and job creation.

The Federal Minister was talking to the visiting IMF Mission led by Mr. Harald Finger which called on him on Wednesday. Secretary Planning Zafar Hasan, PD CPEC Hassan Daud Butt and senior officials of the Ministry were also present in the meeting.

The Minister apprised the Mission that keeping in view the economic situation the PSDP has been rationalised and the throw forward liability of PSDP brought down to a manageable level. He noted that the PTI-led government had inherited fragile economy, and it has taken a number of corrective measures to revive the national economy and put it on path to sustained growth.

The Minister said that emphasis was being laid on attracting investments in areas where it can lead to direct impact on exports or reducing the import bill. He apprised that new ways of financing were also being explored. He added that projects that are run on imported fuel will not be encouraged. He added that the Government was also paying attention on improving electricity transmission system in the wake of increased power generation capacity. The Minister underlined that robust economic planning was being made to enhance tax to GDP ratio by increasing domestic revenue.

Talking about CPEC, the Minister said that the mega project has now entered into its second phase with focus on industrialization, socio-economic initiatives and joint ventures especially in agriculture sector to increase productivity as well as to improve the irrigation system. He noted that the CPEC in its first phase helped a great deal in boosting power generation.

The Mission hoped that the measures being taken by the Government would enable it to achieve economic turnaround. The visiting IMF Mission appreciated CPEC for increasing energy production in its initial phase and said that it will aid in achieving sustained economic growth.

Published in Daily Times, November 15^th 2018.