Govt Forms Another Body to Overcome Pakistan’s Economic Problems

The government has decided to form the Economic Executive Council (EEC) to support Pakistan’s ailing economy. According to the Ministry of Finance, the council held its first meeting on Wednesday.

The council consists of 9 members, and it is chaired by the Finance Advisor, Shaukat Tarin. Other members include five ministers and two advisors, the finance secretary, and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) governor.

The council will work in the domain of other economic bodies such as the National Economic Council (NEC), Economic Coordination Committee (ECC), Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC).

It is to be noted that the Finance Advisor, Shaukat Tarin, Food Minister, Fakhr Imam, Industries Minister, Khusro Bakhtiar, Energy Minister, Hammad Azhar, Planning Minister, Asad Umar, Commerce Advisor, Razak Dawood, Finance Secretary, Hamid Yaqoob Sheikh, and SBP Governor, Dr. Reza Baqir, are already a part of ECC.

The notification from the Finance Ministry stated that the EEC would review the overall economic condition in the country and initiate an integrated economic policy that would be relevant for the overall welfare of the society.

The council would further analyze the effectiveness of government subsidies and protection policies for the important sectors of the Pakistani economy. The effectiveness will be measured by looking at the economic gains and losses to the national exchequer. Currently, this function is being performed by Cabinet Committee on SOEs.

The EEC will also look into the market structure of different important sectors and analyze the problems caused by the lack of competition. It will further discourage cartelization, price manipulations, margins, and other market distortions. This function is under the Competition Commission of Pakistan according to the law.

The council has also been given the job to look over the utilization of foreign assistance and make them more effective. The EEC will further advise on the execution of mega infrastructure projects of energy, industries, and production and suggest ways to improve the existing policies.

An official of the EEC, on the condition of anonymity, told Express Tribune that the purpose of setting up the council was to have a supreme body of economic ministers for better economic policies. The official has also been reported to say that the difference between the existing bodies and the council was that EEC plans for the long-term whereas the current bodies are dealing with activities on a day-to-day basis.

The current economic condition of Pakistan does not look good as the State Bank of Pakistan has raised the expected inflation from 7-9 percent to 9-11 percent for the current year. Similarly, the projection of the current account deficit has also been revised from 2.5-3 percent to 4 percent of the GDP.

Following a similar trend, the rupee has reached an all-time low of 178 in recent days, whereas the imports have also shown an upward trend reaching $7.85 billion in November.



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