ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has termed planned marches and sit-ins “self-inflicted pain”, warning they could cause a Rs120 billion daily loss to the national exchequer. His remarks came as opposition parties, including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), stepped up separate protest campaigns against the government.
The PTI has announced a protest movement scheduled for September 27, with demands including the release of PTI founder Imran Khan and upholding constitutional supremacy and the rule of law.
The JI has announced a march on Islamabad over the petroleum development levy and rising fuel costs.
In his message on Sunday, Aurangzeb said such protests were difficult to understand at a time when Pakistan had made considerable efforts to achieve economic stability, warning that disruption to economic activity could undermine the country’s transition from stability towards economic development.
He said Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves had reached $21.4 billion, the highest level in the country’s history.
The finance minister said the government was reducing expenditure, while the fiscal deficit had declined significantly and the current account was in surplus.
He said remittances were continuously increasing and exports were moving in the right direction. FinMin Aurangzeb expressed hope that the pace of economic growth would accelerate further.
Aurangzeb said GDP growth stood at 3.7% during the last financial year, while economic growth was expected to exceed 4% during the current fiscal year.
He said large-scale manufacturing was undergoing a recovery, while corporate profits and investment in the stock market had increased.
The finance minister said 11 initial public offerings (IPOs) were conducted last year, compared with five in the first two months of the current year, describing the increase as a sign of confidence in the country’s business and investment environment.
Aurangzeb said the government had set a goods export target of $32.9 billion for the current year and expected goods exports to increase by around 6%.
He said the average daily export volume was around $90 million, warning that in the worst-case scenario, strikes could reduce daily exports by up to 50%.
The minister said IT exports and services were expected to rise from $4.6 billion to $5.5 billion, while IT exports stood at around $811 million during the first two months of the current fiscal year.
He cautioned that disruptions to internet connectivity could be extremely damaging to IT exports, noting that the sector had been affected by up to 80% in past worst-case scenarios. –Agencies
