Aurangzeb links Pakistan's uplift to private sector

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Finance, Muhammad Aurangzeb on Thursday said the reports by the international rating agency Fitch and State Bank of Pakistan in cutting the policy rate is a direct manifestation of the country’s macroeconomic stability.

Addressing a ceremony in Islamabad today, he said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his economic team will continue to move forward towards this economic stability agenda. He said we have to bring permanence to this agenda as permanence in stability leads to growth.

Aurangzeb said Pakistan’s currency suffered huge loses due to mismatch currency and urged the private sector to come forward for the uplift of Pakistan.

Mr. Muhammad Aurangzeb said Pakistan has to improve the tax and recovery sides.

On Monday, Fitch Ratings upgraded Pakistan’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to ‘CCC+’ from ‘CCC’.

“The upgrade reflects greater certainty over the continued availability of external funding, in the context of Pakistan’s staff-level agreement (SLA) with the IMF on a new 37-month USD7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF),” Fitch company said in a statement.

“Nevertheless, Pakistan’s large funding needs leave it vulnerable if it fails to implement challenging reforms, which could undermine programme performance and funding,” it warned.