Ahsan Iqbal, the minister of planning and development, stated on Thursday that Pakistan urgently needs to take action to save the country's economy through sustained export-led growth.
He reaffirmed, "Sustainable economic growth is only possible through increasing productivity, which results in more exports and higher economic growth," in his remarks at the closing ceremony of a two-day international conference on Productivity Accreditation and Certification, organised by National Productivity Organisation (NPO) on the occasion of APO's Diamond Jubilee.
The minister noted that the poor increase in exports was to blame for the long-term foreign exchange reserve and balance of payments issue the nation had been experiencing. "Whenever GDP growth exceeds 6%, the government experiences a currency shortage problem. Therefore, in order to address the balance of payment crisis, we must temporarily halt economic development.
With assistance from the Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), the PML-N government introduced the Productivity Initiative in 2018, with the goal of boosting productivity by fostering quality and innovation. But soon after, the project was abandoned due to a change in the government, as the minister recalled. He argued that political stability and policy continuity were strongly related to sustainable economic development.
He further emphasised that if international crop-growing practises were followed, Pakistan might generate an additional $10 to $12 billion annually from the agriculture industry alone.
The minister stated that the world was experiencing an economic crisis as it was still getting over the Covid-19 pandemic. He was speaking at a separate event.
