ISLAMABAD – SBP Governor Raza Baqir unveiled the unprecedented economicsuccess of PTI government.
State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Reza Baqir has said that for thefirst time ever in history of Pakistan, the government is not borrowingfrom the central bank.
“For the first time, the Government of Pakistan is not borrowing from theState Bank,” revealed Governor SBP Raza Baqir, at Pakistan DevelopmentForum 2019, held at the Harvard University. The SBP chief was seatedalongside Adviser to Prime Minister of Pakistan Dr Hafeez Sheikh in theevent co-hosted by Evidence for Policy Design EPoD and the Centre forEconomic Research in Pakistan (CERP).
Speaking about the IMF bailout program, the central bank chief said thatPakistan is off to a good start, as the number of tax payers have increasedsignificantly.
“We’ve embarked on a programme with the IMF. How is it different? Thefiscal adjustment is off to a very good start. There is more to be donethere but there is all the ground to be optimistic, such as the number oftax payers having grown significantly” said Baqir.
Baqir informed that Pakistan does very poorly on financial inclusion,especially on gender, where deposit ratios of women are lowest. He informedthat Pakistan for the first time in history the country will exporttractors to Africa, and auto parts to Germany.
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Answering questions from the audience about Pakistan opening financialdata, the SBP chief said that the central bank is working on gatheringlarge survey data.
Speaking at the same event, Adviser to Prime Minister of Pakistan HafeezSheikh said that it takes time to stabilize the economy. “No growth spurthas lasted in the last four years… even if you’re working over time, ittakes time to stabilise the economy” said Hafeez Sheikh.
About his government’s achievements, Sheikh informed that the circular debtwas Rs38 billion rupees a month which has been brought down to Rs10 billiona month.
“Most important is to tackle domestic productivity – one of the things weare doing is trying to reduce government’s involvement in these crucialsectors. We are trying to build institutions and give them autonomy,” saidSheikh.
