LAHORE, Feb 14 (APP):Federal Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Saturday that digitalization of the economy will bring transparency, and after stabilization, industrialization is necessary to achieve economic growth.
Addressing the ‘Pakistan Economic Growth Conference’ here at Regional office of the Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), he added that relief is going to be given to the construction sector.
The finance minister said, the country’s economy is moving in the right direction and the private sector would have to lead, assuring that government would utilize all resources to provide all possible facilities to the business community.
The government is following an export-led policy and relief for the construction sector would soon be announced, he said and added that he would soon do something for the textile sector, besides considering reduction in tax rates in the property sector.
The federal minister said that work is being done in the construction sector, the tax net is being widened, and ‘we see the real estate sector separately and the construction sector separately. Other sectors are linked to the construction sector, wherever you have problems, we will solve the problems.’
The government would consider reducing the rates of several taxes in the property sector, ‘we have to look at our finances along with the issues of different sectors.’
He asserted that government firmly believed in the effective role of private sector, as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also says, that the private sector would have to come forward and the government would provide all resources and facilities according to its capacity.
He said that the business community must criticize the government because constructive criticism is taken positively, asserting that while identifying the problems, they should also suggest their possible solutions. He said, Super Tax has been reviewed and it will be seen how it can be facilitated to pay it in installments.
The government alone cannot provide employment to the entire population of 250 million, therefore the private sector should create more employment opportunities. He said that digitalization of the economy will bring transparency, revenues will increase, the salaried class pays more taxes, and relief should be given to the salaried class.
“We should compare our economic situation with other countries in the region, however, climate change and rapidly growing population are also major challenges.” He said that rapid population growth could create problems in the future, and in this regard, leaders of the industrial sector should support the government because their voice is heard.
The finance minister said that cement production in the country has increased, while construction activities are getting momentum and the economy is gradually improving. He said that the 2025 flood was more severe than the 2022 flood, however this time the government did not appeal to the international community for assistance because the country had its own resources to cope with this calamity.
He said that in the recent past, the economy was going through difficult times and priorities had to be set for imports, but now the situation is different and the economy is in a better position than before. He said that difficult but necessary decisions have been taken for economic discipline, the fruits of which are now being seen. The Finance Minister said that inflation has decreased and economic activities have increased due to the reduction in the policy rate.
He said that the increase in exports is also having a positive impact on the economy, while global institutions are also regaining confidence in the country’s economy.
Muhammad Aurangzeb said that the government is committed to promoting transparency, digitalization will increase revenues and make the system more transparent, and the tax net is also being widened.
Muhammad Aurangzeb said that tough but necessary decisions were taken for economic discipline, Pakistan’s economy was at risk of default, the 2022 floods had a profound impact on our economy, but we had the resources to bear the losses of the 2025 floods.
He said that IT exports are the future of Pakistan, these IT exports are worth three to four billion dollars, and this sector has the potential to export 8 to 10 billion dollars. The IT sector is not bringing all the money to Pakistan, as four to five billion dollars are kept outside, all the money should come back to the country in the form of exports.
State Bank’s foreign exchange reserves, he mentioned, are continuously increasing due to government policies, there has been a record decrease in the inflation rate, they are providing relief to the common man, relief has to be given to the salaried class, the salaried class pays more taxes.
When he had assumed as the minister , there was a two-week import cover, now it is equal to eight months of imports, he said, “We have seen bad times, they will not come again. Inflation is under control, the government will also keep interest rates in single digits.”
FPCCI President Atif Ikram Sheikh, Senior Vice President Saqib Fayyaz Mago, former caretaker federal minister Dr. Gohar Ijaz, UBG Patron-in-Chief SM Tanveer and Regional Chairman and Vice President Zaki Ijaz presented suggestions to the Finance Minister regarding the improvement of the economy.
In the conference, the chairmen of trade associations of all export sectors presented the problems of their respective sectors and their solutions.