The Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Miftah Ismail, said that owing to the measures taken by the incumbent government, the inflows of dollars have increased by around $800 million compared to outflows during the current month. He revealed this while addressing the “Leaders in Islamabad Business Summit” in Islamabad on August 17.
Speaking at the summit, the Federal Minister said that to lead the country toward progress would require “living within means” and argued that unless the income matched the expenditures, the country could not progress.
The minister stated that the country’s debt burden has more than doubled in the last four years but that it will be contained at Rs. 4,000 billion this year. He added that the country had to borrow Rs. 4,000 billion from other countries to meet its expenditures.
Moreover, Miftah said the government has introduced an import substitution initiative besides taking measures to encourage companies to export 10 percent of their produce.
Miftah stressed the urgent need to focus on boosting the country’s exports by diversifying the field. He claimed that little to no attention was paid to the export sector as the growth of the country’s exports has not been significant over the previous 11 years. He added that the exports had rather receded in terms of quantity.
