ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has urged Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin to take steps to restore the economic well-being of urban lower and middle-class residents who are suffering from “imported inflation.”
Premier Imran and Tarin reviewed the ongoing global commodities price super cycle, which has had a negative impact on Pakistan’s inflation and trade deficit, according to a statement released by the PM Office on Saturday. Prime Minister Imran Khan also questioned about his health.
International organisations such as Bloomberg and The Economist had recognised Pakistan’s effective economic reforms and actions implemented during the Covid outbreak to preserve jobs and lives, according to the prime minister.
Overall, the Prime Minister was pleased with tax collection, exports, and remittances. During the conversation, the prime minister complimented the finance minister and his staff on achieving GDP growth of 5.37 percent in three years, which resulted in the creation of significant employment and an increase in per capita income.
The PM was briefed by Finance Minister Tarin that local food costs have been falling since December, as evidenced by the weekly sensitive price index. Tarin expressed optimism that as international commodity prices stabilise, the burden on imported items will decrease as well.
Tarin stated on Twitter that Pakistan was in the top three in The Economist’s Global Normalcy Index for the third time in a row.
“No other country has achieved this in the world.” He said the same is reflected in the revised GDP growth of 5.37 per cent in FY21, the second-best in the last 14 years. “Moving on with the structural changes, inclusive growth and policy actions, Bloomberg has also recognised that Pakistan has entered the decade of sustained growth,” he said.
According to the minister, the next ten years will aid in reducing income disparities, increasing employment, and improving human development. The Economist’s normality index strives to assess which countries are reverting to pre-pandemic levels by ranking each country on eight indicators: time spent away from home, retail, office use, public transportation, road traffic, flights, cinema attendance, and sporting event attendance.
In June of last year, the same survey ranked Pakistan third out of 50 countries in its rating. According to the research, the Global Normalcy Index dropped in March 2020 as a result of numerous governments imposing limitations on citizen travel.
Pakistan rated in the top 100 in the categories of retail, office use, time spent away from home, and public transportation. However, it received a bad score in the category of flights and movies.
