PM Shehbaz backs economic team to achieve goals

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday hoped that government will meet its economic goals within the next six months owing to the ‘tireless’ work of the economic team, ARY News reported.

Addressing the federal cabinet, the prime minister said that remittances reached a record US$15 billion in the first five months of the current fiscal year, which he believed would rise to US$35 billion by June 2025.

He said that even though the opposition did all in their power to ‘undermine’ the government’s efforts, they were nevertheless able to maintain macroeconomic stability.

“The sun of 2025 will rise with the promise of progress and prosperity for Pakistan,” the prime minister remarked, wishing the nation and participants of the meeting a happy new year.

PM Shehbaz prayed that the economic, political and law and order crises that the world faced in 2024 would be overcome by positive progress in the new year.

He said the ambitious homegrown five-year plan titled “Uraan Pakistan” that was launched on Tuesday would prove to be a milestone for the country’s future provided “we remain on track and work hard to achieve the goals set in the plan”.

He specifically appreciated the efforts of Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and other cabinet members along with the relevant government officials.

He claimed that the nation has now entered the development stage after achieving economic stability. “We have no choice but to concentrate on export-led growth if we are to achieve economic prosperity.

The prime minister also expressed gratitude to the Governor State Bank of Pakistan, the Finance Minister, the Chairman of the Federal Bureau of Revenue, and Deputy PM Ishaq Dar for their efforts in collecting an additional Rs 72 billion under the Advance-to-Tax Ratio (ADR), which allowed the government to nearly meet its tax revenue target for December 2024.

Similarly, he stated that the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) digitisation efforts will be fully implemented thanks to $6 million in support from the Bill Gates Foundation.

The early results of this project were that the the 39% time duration of container inspection had been reduced while the businessmen got relief of 89%.

The prime minister said smuggling of sugar through Afghanistan had been reduced to zero which was a positive sign for the country’s economy. He gave the credit of reducing the smuggling to Minister for Industries and Production Rana Tanvir Hussain, the institutions and the Army Chief.

He said during first nine months of the government, no scandal surfaced which reflected the government’s commitment to ensure transparency in all sectors. As regards, terrorism in the country, the prime minister vowed that the law enforcing agencies were fully committed to halt the nefarious designs of the enemies.