Indefinite lockdown to have caused irreversible damage to Pakistan economy: Hammad

Federal Minister for Industries and Production, Hammad Azhar has said that the implementation of ‘blanket and indefinite lockdown’ would have brought devastating consequences for Pakistan’s economy.

“Remember when there were loud calls for a blanket and indefinite lockdown? That would have caused irreversible damage to the economy and led to hunger and poverty in a developing country like ours,” said Azhar in a tweet post on Saturday, while sharing media reports regarding FDI increase, and performance of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX).

The minister was of the view that the smart lockdown strategy implemented by his government was a ‘wiser path and minimized the damage.’

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, Pakistan managed to fetch a healthy Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) during the last fiscal year. According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), FDI has posted a notable increase of 88 percent during FY20 supported by sufficient investment inflows from China and Norway.

Pakistan has fetched FDI amounting to $2.561 billion during July-June of FY20 compared to $1.362 billion in the corresponding period of FY19, depicting an increase of $1.198 billion. SBP statistics released on Friday revealed that during the period under review, FDI inflows were $3.286 billion against the outflows of $724 million.

The lower outflows resulted in the massive surge in FDI during the last fiscal year. During FY19, overall outflows were $1.422 billion versus $2.785 billion inflows.