PM Vows to Unveil Five-Year Economic Revival Plan Very Soon

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Thursday said that he would unveil a five-year economic revival plan in the coming weeks as broad parameters had already been finalized through months-long deliberations with the stakeholders. The prime minister, addressing the launching ceremony of the Buna-Raast connectivity project, said the “Home-Grown Economic Program” would envisage measures to boost the country’s economy by uplifting agriculture, information technology, and other untapped sectors. “Our program is under discussion and I will announce it very soon. Great work has gone into it. It involves discussions and deliberations with all stakeholders over the last many months. Recently we have finalized its broad parameters. By next week or so, we will finalize it. I will go to the people to announce the program for the next five years,” he remarked. Highlighting the challenges of reforms in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and power sector, he told the gathering that he was personally monitoring the digitization of FBR and that the government was hopeful of positive outcomes of power sector reforms. Under the Buna-Raast connectivity project, the Raast payment mechanism is being linked with the Arab Monetary Fund’s Buna system to facilitate millions of overseas Pakistanis in Arab countries to send remittances through a swift, affordable, and effective mechanism. The prime minister said that besides easing the remittance-sending process digitally, it would also help boost the country’s foreign exchange and further strengthen the already cordial relations between Pakistan and the Arab world. Calling it a great step forward in promoting financial transactions through modern techniques, he said the project would expand the reach of Pakistan’s digital payment infrastructure. The premier said that the project also held the potential to accelerate the connectivity into a future model of a wider payment system where transactions would take place from region to region with a potential of over $20 billion in annual payments. He thanked the Arab Monetary Fund, State Bank of Pakistan, Finance Ministry, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Karandaaz for their support in launching the project. Earlier, he also gave away the mementos to the Chairperson of Arab Monetary Fund Dr Fahad Alturki, SBP Governor Jamil Ahmed, President of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Dr Anita Zaidi, and CEO of Karandaaz Waqasul Hassan.