ISLAMABAD – Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Abdul HafeezShaikh on Wednesday said the government was committed to increasingproduction capacity of micro-finance sector to grab maximum benefits out ofminimum resources.
Addressing a two-day micro-finance conference here, the adviser said thatstable economy was pivotal for promotion of micro-finance sector and due totimely and effective measures by the government, the economy had becomestable now.
He said the unprivileged segment of the society could be brought out ofextreme poverty by promoting micro-finance sector.
Hafeez Shaikh pointed out that due to huge fiscal deficits in past, theprovision of loans to private sector got affected.
However, he said the fiscal deficit during first five months of currentfiscal year not only went down as compared to the last year, but it hadgone in surplus if the interest payment was not taken in account.
“For the first time, the primary fiscal balance is in surplus now. Ourrevenues are more than expenditures, which is a positive sign for theeconomy,” he added.
The adviser also said the government would bring down the cost of doingbusiness especially in micro-finance sector.
Talking about the government’s achievements in macroeconomic indicators, hesaid last month (November), almost 10% increase was recorded in exportswhile imports declined considerably, which resulted in contraction of thecurrent account deficit by over 36%.He said revenues had also increased by 17% in the first five months ofcurrent fiscal year as compared to the same period of last year.
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“Due to positive macroeconomic indicators, more and more people (investors)from abroad are attracted towards Pakistan as evident from portfolioinvestment of around $1 billion during the current fiscal year.”
If all institutions performed well then there would be no need to go backto the IMF again, he added The adviser said last month the foreign directinvestment also witnessed a record increase of 236%, whereas localinvestors were also showing more trust as evident from the fact that thecountry’s stock market witnessed a significant positive change and crossedthe 40,000 barrier.
“Bloomberg has reported that in dollar terms, PSX (Pakistan Stock Exchange)have proved to be the best performer in the world during the previous threemonths.”
Hafeez Shaikh said non-tax revenues had also posted a record increase ofover 100% as compared to the same period of last year and hoped that thegovernment would easily surpass the target of collecting Rs1,200 billionnon-tax revenue by the end of current fiscal year.
He said Moody’s, the leading international rating agency, normally comparedthe economic performance of different countries. However, on Monday itupgraded Pakistan’s economic outlook from negative to stable which sent apositive message across the globe about the country, he said.
