Pakistan’s economy to grow 2-2.5pc in FY23: Shamshad Akhtar

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Finance Minister (FM) Shamshad Akhtar on Saturday noted that the country’s economy is projected to grow by 2-2.5 per cent in the current fiscal year 2023-24, ARY News reported.

Virtually addressing the ‘IPO Summit 2024’, organised by Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), the interim finance minister said despite challenges, Pakistan has made significant progress towards macro-economic, exchange rate and financial stability.

Shamshad Akhtar projected that growth is to rebound in the positive trajectory in the range of 2-2.5pc, with agriculture expected to grow by 5.6pc and industry by 2.5pc during the current fiscal year.

The minister said the capital markets cannot thrive under very high interest rate regime. “The SBP [State Bank of Pakistan] is conscious of the fact that we will have to move to lower the interest rate subject to inflation coming down,” she noted.

She further said that foundation has been laid for attracting foreign direct investment.

Akhtar also acknowledged the uptrend at PSX since start of the current fiscal year. The bourse gave a return of 55% at PSX in 2023 while the benchmark KSE 100 Index ended at over 62,450 points in December 2023.

On the external front, the caretaker minister said that the FX reserves have reached $9.1b due to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) tranche and multilateral flows.

Earlier on Jan 17, Pakistan received $700 million loan tranche from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the nine-month Stand-By Arrangement (SBA).

The development came after the Executive Board of the IMF completed the first review of Pakistan’s economic reform programme supported by the SBA. T

The Board’s decision allowed for an immediate disbursement of around $700 million, bringing total disbursements under the arrangement to about $1.9 billion.

The IMF’s nod follows the staff-level agreement reached between the Fund and Pakistan on November 15, 2023, emphasizing the nation’s commitment to implementing key reforms.