Unlike in the past, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government has managed to bring sustainability to macroeconomics as the economy has displayed unprecedented resilience despite several challenges. “Despite the most devastating health and Economic Shocks of century i.e., COVID-19 and recent multi-decade high-price commodity shock, Pakistan economy has displayed the greatest resilience, which is unprecedented in the 74-year history of the country,” the finance ministry said in a report released on Friday at the end of the current calendar year. According to the report, Pakistan’s boom-bust life cycle appeared cyclical than sustainable in the past as has been reflected from past global commodity, political or economic shocks of 1998, 2009, and 2018, where the economy got busted in a very short interval of time It said Pakistan’s macroeconomic performance was widely accepted by all international macroeconomic Financial Institutions (Including IMF, World Bank, ADB, Moody’s, S&P and Fitch, etc. While the government’s response to the pandemic had been widely acclaimed and recognized. According to ‘The Economist’, Pakistan has been ranked number one in the ‘Economists’ world normalcy index as the country has lifted most of its COVID-19 restrictions imposed to curb the virus spread. Pakistan has rolled out the largest social safety net in Pakistan’s history. According to the World Bank report “global social protection responses to Covid-19” (May-2021) Pakistan ranks 4th globally in terms of the number of people covered and 3rd globally in terms of the percentage of population covered amongst those that covered over 100 million people; the World Bank has stated that only a few countries have attained impressive six-digit levels in this regard. Pakistan’s Ehsaas Emergency Cash is one of them. According to the report, Pakistan’s response to COVID was more effective and timelier than the rest of the world, despite the fiscal constraints. The vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan of implementing the smart lockdown is the most appropriate, which allowed the economy to grow. The government and State Bank of Pakistan took many initiatives to provide relief to the people which included a fiscal relief package of Rs1,240bn to provide relief to neutralize the socio-economic impact of Covid-19. On the other hand, the economy performed above expectations; GDP growth 4pc, tax collection exceeded above targets, reserves improved, current account reported lowest since 2011. This growth was achieved when the rest of the world was encountering massive output contraction. India (-8pc), UK (-10pc), USA (-3.7pc), Iran (-6.5pc) On the corporate sector, the report said, interest rates remained lower for most of the year at 7pc, which gave impetus to the private sector while the aggregate profit after tax of KSE-100 in 3Q of 2021 was reported at Rs258 billion, the highest in the last 10 years The report said the growth was broad-based, the corporate sector has posted a record profitability of Rs929 billion in FY21, up from Rs587 billion in 2018. Overall, 247pc growth in companies’ incorporation (69,380 companies from July-2018 to Dec-21 reported, compared to 19,996 companies in the last three years of PML-N government). On the external sector, it added, remittances and exports are above the pre-Covid level of 2019-20 while the current account deficit posted a 10 year low of $1.9b in FY21. Exports of goods came in at $25.6b, up 14pc higher in FY21, it said, adding that for the first time in the last ten years, exports indicators are looking promising and the average monthly exports now target $3b from $2b as in PML-N time. Exports of services also increased by 10pc to $5.9b while IT sector exports have doubled from PML-N time and are expected to reach $3.5b to $4b, up 300pc by the end of this government’s term. The remittances have piled up to record level to $29.4b, from $23.1b years earlier, it added. The other hallmark of the PTI government in its three years was the contraction of unnecessary imports and imports substitution. However, recent commodity price shocks have jacked up the imports, it added. On the fiscal side, the report added, the federal taxes registered a record growth in FY21 and came to almost Rupee one trillion more than the 2018 level at Rs4,764 billion. Similarly, the growth in non-tax revenue has witnessed a massive increase to Rs1,630 billion. Overall, the deficit situation has improved to 7.1pc of GDP from 8.1pc in FY20 while the primary balance was also contained to 1.4pc from 1.8pc of GDP a year earlier. Meanwhile, following Budget FY22, global commodity prices surged to unprecedented levels, triggering pressure on currencies, and pushing higher inflation around the world. The report said under Ehsaas Emergency Cash Program, the government has disbursed Rs179.3 billion to 14.8 million beneficiaries to provide immediate cash relief of Rs12,000 whose livelihood has been severely affected by the pandemic The government has cleared the outstanding power sector dues in the tune of more than Rs220 billion and refunds of more than Rs250 billion whereas the power supply remained uninterrupted, resultantly exports and industrial output growth remained in double-digit. The rural economy was strengthened, construction boom while more than Rs1,000 billion worth of projects were approved in one year. The construction of Dams initiated which will double the water storage from the current 13 million acre-feet and the addition of 10,000 megawatts of electricity. The country has scored overall well on the health front, more than 150m vaccines have been administered. Close to $2b spent on vaccines without provincial contribution. The highest number of social and economic programs were launched which included Kamyab Pakistan, Sehat card, Ehsas Rashan, Kamyab Jawan, Mera Pakistan Mera Ghar, Kissan card, etc. The government focused on non-conventional products and market exports for diversification especially on IT sector-related incentives, implemented the toughest FATF action plan in a limited period and introduced better administrative controls and productivity growth brought prices of essential food items down. Going forward, the report expected the growth to stay at 5pc, exports $31billion, remittances $32 billion, taxes Rs6,000b and trade deficit to reduce in the second half of FY22 The recent pressures on the current account are due to commodity shock but risks are receding due to timely policy actions, it concluded.