Hammad Azhar releases latest statistics of national economy

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Hammad Azhar has released the latest statistics of the national economy that showed the reduction of current account deficit up to 73 per cent, ARY News reported on Friday.

Hammad Azhar, in his Twitter messages, said that the country is brought out of economic crisis following the efforts of Prime Minister Imran Khan. He added that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) also reported the success of economic reformations in Pakistan.

The minister said that the nation suffered worst economic management in previous tenures which led the country to be listed in negative level by Moody’s. The effective measures of the present government regained the country’s reputation besides reducing current account deficit up to 73 per cent.

The above stabilisation and improvement has been made possible by putting in place bold measures like a Market Driven Exchange Rate, Ensuring Autonomy of SBP, Withdrawl of Tax Exemptions to rentier groups, control over expenditures, dramatic reduction in power losses etc.

— Hammad Azhar (@Hammad_Azhar) December 20, 2019

According to the statistics, the fiscal deficit which stood at $1166 million in November 2018 has dropped to $319 million in November 2019. The deficit recorded at $6733 million from July 2018 to November 2018 was reduced to $1821 million in 2019.

Read: SBP reserves up by $1.65 billion

He added that the export rate has witnessed an increase of 11 per cent in the month of November this year.

The above stabilisation and improvement has been made possible by putting in place bold measures like a Market Driven Exchange Rate, Ensuring Autonomy of SBP, Withdrawl of Tax Exemptions to rentier groups, control over expenditures, dramatic reduction in power losses etc.

— Hammad Azhar (@Hammad_Azhar) December 20, 2019

Azhar has also retweeted a message from IMF, saying that “Pakistan’s economic stabilization and reform program is on track. Strong ownership by the authorities and steadfast reform implementation are critical to entrench macroeconomic stability and support robust and balanced growth.”

Pakistan’s economic stabilization and reform program is on track. Strong ownership by the authorities and steadfast reform implementation are critical to entrench macroeconomic stability and support robust and balanced growth.

— IMF Pakistan (@imf_pakistan) December 20, 2019

Earlier in the day, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh said current account deficit declined by 72.6 per cent in November and 73 per cent between July-November this year.

Sharing latest figures on the external deficit and foreign reserves on Twitter, he said in five months, an increase in State Bank of Pakistan’s reserves by “$1.8B & reduction of $3B in FX swaps/forward liabilities increased FX buffer by $4.8B,” providing further stability to the external account.

Read: IMF approves second tranche of loan package for Pakistan

It is noteworthy that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a second tranche worth of $450 million for Pakistan under the $6 billion Extended Fund Facility in a meeting of its executive board in Washington.

The IMF in its board meeting said that Pakistan’s economic reform program is on track while decisive policy implementation by the Pakistani authorities is helping to preserve economic stability in the country.

IMF said that the authorities remain committed to expanding the social safety nets, reducing poverty, and narrowing the gender gap.