Global demand for Pakistan’s goods rise, amid timely govt measures: Baqir
- He said that as the global demand returns, the demand for Pakistani products is increasing which has lead to increase orders for our exporters.
Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Raza Baqir has said that despite the coronavirus pandemic demand for Pakistani products abroad has witnessed a rebound.
The central bank head said that Pakistan’s exports have returned to $2 billion a month (i.e. Pre- COVID-19 level), including textiles, rice, cement, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. He said that Pakistan survived the pandemic due to timely measures taken to protect it from the negative effects of the pandemic including closure of businesses.
Addressing a four-day conference of the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), he said that in order to boost local trade, it was necessary to reduce imports and promote competitiveness.
The central chief highlighted the role of SBP in facilitating the Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs). He informed that the central bank was working with private banks and SMEs to facilitate housing loans on easy terms to boost economic activities and create employment opportunities.
Talking about the much talked about housing sector, Baqir admitted that the rate of Housing Finance in Pakistan is among the lowest in the region, and there was a need to expand it. He said that the present government under Prime Minister Imran Khan directive, has taken effective steps to develop the housing and construction sector, with the central bank playing its role by facilitating the private banks.
Providing the answer as to why Pakistan’s economy didn’t suffer much as compared to its regional countries especially India, the SBP Governor pointed out that the economy Pakistan has not been hard hit, due to the timely measures taken by his organization and the government i.e. smart lockdowns brought COVID-19 under control.
He said that SBP measures including TERF facility, which was provided exclusively for investment reasons, among others protected companies from filing for bankruptcy.
He said that as the global demand returns, the demand for Pakistani products is increasing which has lead to increase orders for our exporters. Baqir said that we should now focus on to increase our export-to-GDP ratio
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