State of economy: Government deriving too much satisfaction from indicators?

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed his economic team to make sure that the benefits of the improvement in economic indicators must reach the masses. He said this during a meeting of the economic team that briefed him about the overall economic situation.

The prime minister chaired a weekly meeting of his economic team to get the latest update, wherein, the team led by Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh informed the prime minister about over $2 billion monthly increase in remittances and disbursement of loans by banks to the housing and construction sector as well as an increase in textile exports.

Those who briefed the prime minister included Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Minister for Industries Hammad Azhar, Governor State Bank of Pakistan Dr Reza Baqir, Minister for Economic Affairs Division Khusru Bukhtiar, Adviser on Commerce Razak Dawood, Institutional Reforms Dr Ishrat Hussain, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Revenue Dr Waqar Masood, Finance Minister Punjab, and the KP as well as senior officials of the Finance Ministry, and other ministries.

After getting a briefing from his team on overall economic situation, the prime minister expressed satisfaction over economic activities in construction sector, growth in exports of textile industry, and increase in remittances by overseas Pakistanis, and stated that the loans provided by banks to youth under the prime minister's scheme constituted an encouraging development.

The prime minister stated that the government's economic policies have added to the confidence of investors in the stock market. Even in a difficult situation, Pakistan economy was moving in the positive direction, he added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020