Federal Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar, and Revenue, launched the Pakistan Economic Survey 2022-23 during a press conference in Islamabad on Thursday.
During a news conference alongside Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal to launch the Pakistan Economic Survey 2022-23, the finance minister emphasised the performance of several sectors of the economy during the previous fiscal year.
According to the finance minister, the current coalition administration is taking steps to steer the economy through numerous challenges.
Dar began the press conference by reminding journalists that when the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) came to power in 2013, there was 18-hour load shedding and terrorism was on the rise.
When discussing the current fiscal year 2022-203, the minister stated that Pakistan achieved GDP growth of 0.29 percent for the previous fiscal year, falling far short of the aim of 5 percent.
“During the first quarter of FY2023, floods engulfed a large portion of agricultural land, disrupting domestic supply.” Flood damages, GDP loss, and rehabilitation costs are estimated to be Rs. 3.2 trillion (US$ 14.9 billion), Rs. 3.3 trillion (US$ 15.2 billion), and Rs. 3.5 trillion (US$16.3 billion),” he stated.
According to Ishaq Dar, Pakistan saw 29.2 percent inflation from July 2022 to May 2023, compared to 11.3 percent at the same time last year.
The government had set an inflation target of 11.5 percent for FY2023, but it fell short due to a rapid depreciation of the rupee and global supply shocks that resulted in high import prices.
“Government is taking administrative actions, policy reforms, and relief measures to control the prices of essential items,” he said, adding that the coalition government is dedicated to preserving strategic stockpiles of wheat, sugar, and pulses.
Dar noted that district price control committees check the prices of necessary commodities to ensure their availability at acceptable prices.
He said that Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) tax collection grew 16.1pc to Rs6,210bn from July to May, compared to Rs5,348.2bn in the year-ago period.
