Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Thursday unveiled the Pakistan Economic Survey 2022-23 which stated that the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) managed only 0.3% growth, against the 5% of projected growth, according to a report published by Dawn.
“The agriculture sector grew by 1.55% while industries declined by 2.94% and the services sector – which contributes nearly 60% to the Pakistan GDP – grew by only 0.86%,” the report revealed.
While unveiling the survey, Dar spoke less about the dismal performance of various sectors of the Pakistani economy and more about the global environment and economic fundamentals the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government had inherited when it came to power in April last year.
Referring to the previous Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) regime, the finance minister complained that “the (political) project, conceived in 2010, flourished in 2018, and reached its culmination in 2022,” but, in the process, “put the country in reverse gear”.
“We now have to resume development from where it was left off in 2017; with an inclusive and resilient growth trajectory that is sustainable, builds investor confidence, and ends current market nervousness,” Dar said as quoted by Dawn.
He revealed that the federal Public Sector Development Program would be enhanced to ₹1.15 trillion in fiscal 2023-24, which would be augmented by another ₹1.6tr through provincial development programs and this spending would help boost GDP growth in the new year.
On Wednesday, the Pakistan government approved a 66 percent increase in the discretionary budget of parliamentarians, reaching a record ₹116 billion for the outgoing fiscal year, reported the Express Tribune newspaper.
The draft budget which is the last by the Shebaz Sharif government before elections later this year involves about ₹6 trillion deficit gap which the government would try to fill through different means including external financing.
The total outlay of the budget is expected to be ₹14.5 trillion. The government employees are likely to receive a boost of 30 percent in their ad hoc relief allowances as well as a 20 percent hike in pensions.
