Daily Times

Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Shaukat Tarin Saturday stressed the importance of long-term planning for achieving sustainable and all-inclusive economic growth.

Chairing the third meeting of the Economic Advisory Council (EAC), the finance minister said that the Prime Minister had re-constituted EAC, after decades, with an objective to draw up concrete proposals for sustainable economic growth through comprehensive and seamless planning across major sectors by taking all stakeholders on board.

The underlying rationale is to secure the future of coming generations in the country, the Finance Minister added.

The meeting was attended by Federal Minister for Industries and Production, Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtyar; Federal Minister for Privatization Muhammad, Mian Soomro and Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam.

Advisor to the Prime Minister on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood, Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Finance and Revenue, Dr. Waqar Masood, Secretary Finance, Secretary Privatization and Deputy Governor State Bank of Pakistan also attended the meeting while private members Sultan Ali Allana, Farooq Rehmatullah and Zaid Bashir also participated in the meeting. According to a press statement issued by the Finance Ministry, four sub-groups made respective presentations during the meeting covering the topics namely SOEs & Privatization, Energy, Domestic Commerce and Price Stability. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Finance & Revenue Dr. Waqar Masood Khan gave a detailed presentation on Price Stability which included short term, medium term and long term proposals for bringing price stability in the country.

He drew a comparative analysis between prices prevailing in Pakistan and also in the entire region both in current and historical perspectives.

Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research, Syed Fakhar Imam and Federal Minister for Industries for Production, Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtyar also gave their valuable input on the topic, the statement added.

Farooq Rehmatullah gave a presentation on the Energy (Power) sector and highlighted global, regional and local trends in the refining sectors.

The presentation also included recommendations for bringing in sustainable solutions to streamline operations from oil downstream to marketing sectors and gave suggestions to deal with the challenges faced by LPG, exploration & production sectors and to explore renewable energy resources in Pakistan.

Sultan Ali Allana made a presentation on State Owned Enterprises ( SOEs) while the Secretary Privatization updated the EAC on Privatization.

The presentation emphasized the importance of continued review of SOEs portfolio and also highlighted steps for better management of SOEs.

The presentation included short term, medium term and long term strategies for better management of the State Owned enterprises (in phases). The presentation further included measures to speed up the privatization process in a smooth and timely manner. Zaid Bashir made a presentation on Domestic Commerce Sector, underling to enrich and revive the documented/integrated sectors and fully realize the true potential of e-commerce during the short term by bringing retailers into a more organized environment ultimately increasing contribution to the National exchequer. Tax credit on enlistment of companies and to incentivize the induction of women in workforce were suggested as part of medium term plans whereas financing facility for growth of the retailers and tax adjustability were suggested as part of a long term strategy for promoting the domestic commerce sector in the country.