PM launches ambitious five-year national economic plan

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday launched a five-year national Economic Transformational Plan 2024-29 titled “Uraan Pakistan: Homegrown national Economic Plan” aimed at bringing economic reforms in the country.

“Today is a great day,” PM Shehbaz said in his opening remarks while addressing the ceremony in Islamabad on Tuesday.

The premier said that they have just listen to a “remarkable and brillinat” narration from the finance minister, planning minister and deputy prime minister along way very informative presentation.

“The crux is that in the last nine months we negotiated huge challanges and difficulties and through untiring efforts of the federal government provincial governments and our international partners and friends, we have been able to achieve macro economic stability but this is just the beginning of a long journey which would entail sacrifices of blood and sweat to achieve ecnomic growth and finding our lost place,” he added.

The premier stressed that this requires Pakistan to put its hands together and march forward with unity of thought and action.

He also congratulated Ahsan Iqbal, Muhammad Aurangzeb and the entire federal cabinet and federal officials, sceretairies, SIFC, and provincial chief minsiters and the governments for their “great support and cooperation to carve out this homegrown programme.”

The homegrown five-year national economic plan is aimed at steering the country toward sustainable growth based on the current macroeconomic stability, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said.

Describing it as a momentous occasion, the minister said that one of the key pillars of the plan is to achieve export-led growth in order to avoid boom-and-bust cycles in the economy. He emphasised that the private sector will have to play a lead role.

At the outset of the ceremony, the finance minister — while addressing the participants — said that the country was on the path of development under the leadership of PM Shehbaz Sharif, expressing satisfaction over the macroeconomic indicators.

He pointed out that the Karachi Interbank Offered Rate (Kibor), a benchmark rate for lending to consumers and businesses, is close to 12%, which he said was helping the private sector.

“The country is receiving direct foreign investment at a rapid pace,” he said, emphasising the importance of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) for securing investment.

Furthermore, he said, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) is setting records day by day and has become the second largest market in the world, while the inflation rate has come down from 38% to 5%.

Aurangzeb said that the incumbent government was not mulling planning but implementing. “The Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) transformation is being carried out,” he said, saying that they will stabilise the export-oriented economy.

He added that the country was heading towards stable growth.

Speaking of the tax system, the finance minister said that the authorities were carrying out reforms in tax policy, which according to him, was being separated with tax collection. “The Tax Policy Unit will be run with the help of the government and the private sector,” he said, stressing the need to “stop the leakage of taxes”.

He also said the country would achieve more than 6% Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth by 2028. “Pakistan has achieved an account surplus after 24 years,” he added.

The minister concluded by stressing that the private sector has to drive the country and “we have to stand up as a nation”.

As per Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar, the Uran Pakistan is an all inclusive agenda through which the journey of economic development will be undertaken. He said this economic reforms agenda is for the development of Pakistan and its people.

This is a developing story and is being updated with more details.