Overview
- Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb used a policy forum in Lahore on Saturday to call for business model change, higher productivity and export growth as the route from short-term stabilisation to jobs-led expansion.
- The government set concrete targets for the year, including IT exports of about $5.5 billion and workers’ remittances of $44 billion, while reporting foreign exchange reserves above three months of import cover and recent credit-rating upgrades.
- Policy measures announced to boost competitiveness include abolishing the super tax, lowering tax slabs, offering exporters concessional loans at 4.5 percent, and directing tariff and energy cuts to lower input costs for industry.
- Authorities point to rebuilt market access and reserve buffers — the State Bank bought roughly $20 billion over recent years, private placements and a €3 billion bond were issued — as central to reducing future external vulnerability under the IMF Extended Fund Facility.
- The reforms promise direct effects for people and firms: targeted subsidies aim to protect low-income users, lower industrial energy rates are meant to cut production costs, and higher female labour participation and private investment are flagged as ways to expand jobs.