Print Print edition: 2017-01-11

Isn't it a grim situation?

Published January 11, 2017 Updated January 11, 2017 12:00am

Quoting sources, a Business Recorder news item on Sunday said the long-awaited package, was deliberated in two marathon meetings a couple of days ago. First meeting was presided over by the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the PM House and attended by the Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Commerce Minister Engineer Khurram Dastgir, Prime Minister's Special Assistant on Revenue, Haroon Akhtar Khan, Chairman Board of Investment (BoI), Dr Miftah Ismail and other senior officials of concerned ministries. In the follow up of Prime Minister's meeting, finance minister Ishaq Dar chaired a meeting in the finance Ministry which was also attended by the concerned ministers and other officials.
That there has been no focus on exports is a fact. It has therefore led to widen the current account deficit. The situation is also telling on country's foreign exchange reserves that have begun to dwindle for the first time since the present government came to power in 2013.
Last but not least, the euphoria created by the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) seems to have overshadowed the routine export planning processes in the ministries of Commerce and Finance. Any spike in global oil prices could worsen our fiscal woes.