Overview
- A committee chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar recommended declaring an export emergency with a Prime Minister's Hotline and a 30‑day tax-refund dashboard to free exporters' working capital.
- The strategy aims to lift annual exports from roughly $30–35 billion to more than $60 billion in three to four years to reduce the risk of returning to the IMF after 2027.
- The panel identified high and volatile energy tariffs, fragmented and distortionary taxes, delayed refunds, weak testing and certification capacity, and logistics bottlenecks as key drags on competitiveness.
- Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb acknowledged company exits due to high taxes and energy costs but said 20 foreign investors, including Google, Aramco, Wafi Energy and Turkish Petroleum, entered over the past 18 months.
- Aurangzeb cited ongoing reforms such as FBR transformation and tariff rationalisation, a planned Panda bond issuance within two weeks, and remittances projected to exceed $41 billion this year.