Daily Times

Prime Minister Imran Khan Friday congratulated his government on achieving GDP growth of 5.3 percent which led to creation of substantial job opportunities and raise in per capita income.

The prime minister wrote on Twitter that the success of the government’s economic reforms was also recognized globally. He also cited a report of Bloomberg which predicted that Pakistan would sustain high growth trajectory and employment levels.

Moreover, the prime minister also said since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Pakistan had been ranked amongst the top three countries on the normalcy index. He said the Economist magazine, in its latest normalcy index also indicated that during the pandemic, Pakistan simultaneously saved jobs as well as lives. According to Bloomberg, Pakistan’s GDP grew 3.9% in the fiscal year ended June 2021, swinging from a 0.5% contraction in fiscal 2020 but leaving a slight negative output gap of -0.8%.

“We see the output gap turning positive for the next few years before it converges to zero,” it added. Bloomberg also projected a gradual decline in the unemployment rate through 2030 to its long-term historical average of 5.5%. It also projected a gradual rise in the participation rate through 2050.

The government has launched a comprehensive youth employment program with a focus on imparting market-oriented skills.

The investment growth is expected to pick up in the current decade, spurred by inflows related to CPEC projects.

Meanwhile, the tax reforms, driven by the outcome of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, are also being implemented. This should increase tax revenues, making space for higher public investment.

Pakistan revised up its economic growth rate for 2020-21 to 5.37% from 3.9%, Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar said on Thursday, says a news report.

“The growth in 2020-21 was 5.37%,” Umar said in a tweet, adding that the National Accounts Committee (NAC), a government body that reviews the economic indicators, had approved the revised estimate of GDP growth.

This is the second time the GDP rate for 2020-21 has been revised, from an initial 2.3% set in the 2020 annual budget then later to 3.9%.

The country’s statistics bureau also shifted its economy’s baseline, which pushed the figure up further to 5.57%, a statement from the planning ministry said. With the new 2015-16 baseline, it said, Pakistani total GDP has reached at $346.76 billion with a per capita income of $1,666.

Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib Friday asserted that the PML-N government in the past had borrowed money to artificially increase the growth rate(s).

“Our government has not increased growth rate artificially,” the minister said a in a new statement encompassing the government’s economic reforms that started yielding fruits due to tireless efforts of the economic team led by Prime Minister Imran Khan.