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ISLAMABAD, Jun 5 (APP):Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal on Thursday said the incumbent government had achieved a significant milestone by preparing a Rs4 trillion national development outlay for the fiscal year 2025–26, in just the second year of its five-year term, a target originally scheduled for 2028–29.
Speaking to the media at the launch of the Monthly Development Plan, he credited improved governance, enhanced provincial coordination, and robust tax collection as key drivers behind the country’s early achievement of major development targets.
He praised the government’s fiscal management, particularly in tax collection, saying “The government has increased tax collection by 29 percent. This increase has directly contributed to higher provincial incomes and enabled us to enhance our national development outlay.”
Although, he said, federal development spending had slightly decreased, the rise in provincial budgets, driven by increased fiscal transfers, had more than compensated. “The overall national development outlay has not decreased; rather, it has significantly increased compared to last year,” he added.
The minister reaffirmed confidence in achieving a 4.2 percent GDP growth rate this year, projecting a climb to 6 percent by the final year of the current five-year plan.
He said sectoral growth targets for 2029 include 5.1 percent in agriculture, 7.2 percent in industry, and 6.2 percent in services, expanding Pakistan’s GDP to $600 billion and raising per capita income to $2,000.
“We have a broader vision of transforming Pakistan into a $1 trillion economy by 2035. If we can reach $600 billion by 2029, adding another $400 billion over the next five to seven years is certainly within reach,” he said.
Outlining strategic priorities for the coming year, Ahsan Iqbal said the government’s focus would be on “governance, innovation, and reform” to maintain growth momentum.
He also announced the launch of a new anti-corruption hotline to engage citizens in monitoring public sector spending.
“We must ensure maximum value for every rupee spent. That means eliminating waste, duplication, and corruption,” he said, stressing that good governance was “not a luxury, but a necessity for sustainable development.”
In a major positive development, the minister highlighted that headline inflation had dropped to 3.5 percent in May 2025, down sharply from 11.8 percent a year earlier. “Only a few countries in the world have managed to bring double-digit inflation down so drastically in such a short time,” he noted.
The minister said foreign remittances had also seen a considerable jump, with inflows increasing by $10 billion over the past three years. “Our remittances have grown from $27 billion to $37 billion,” he shared, crediting the Pakistani diaspora for their resilience and patriotism.
He paid tribute to overseas Pakistanis, who continued to support the country despite negative calls from some political figures. “Some leaders made statements I consider economic terrorism, urging people to break IMF agreements or shut down national institutions abroad. But the overseas community stood firm and increased remittances by $10 billion. Every dollar they sent played a vital role in Pakistan’s development,” he observed.
Sharing recent financial successes, the minister said Pakistan had posted a $1.9 billion current account surplus between July and April — a sharp reversal from a $1.3 billion deficit during the same period last year.
He also revealed that improved project evaluation by the Planning Commission had saved the national treasury Rs5.4 billion last month. “Better scrutiny and smarter planning make a big difference,” he said.
Turning to national security, the minister mentioned a high-level, single-agenda meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and attended by key national leadership, including representatives from Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
“The agenda was clear, crafting a unified national strategy to counter Indian aggression and provocations,” he said, warning India against weaponizing water resources, which he described as a violation of international agreements. “Pakistan’s water rights are not a favor from India, they are protected by international treaties,” he asserted.
Ahsan Iqbal said that just as Pakistan’s armed forces had shattered India’s arrogance on the battlefield, the country would counter India’s economic and political hostility with unity, resilience, and adherence to international law.
He said India’s use of water as a political tool had led to increasing diplomatic isolation. “India is now alone, using weapons that have no legitimacy or support in the civilized world,” he said.
The minister said Pakistan would focus on the fast-track completion of ongoing water reservoir projects.
Accordingly, he said, a high-level committee, chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister, has been constituted to submit workable recommendations within 72 hours to ensure timely, and potentially accelerated, completion of these projects.
Following Eid ul Azha, the minister announced, a National Water Conference would be convened to deliberate on the country’s water challenges and gather expert opinion from across the nation to develop a comprehensive and effective plan.