ISLAMABAD, June 8 (APP): National Economic Council (NEC) Wednesday approved the annual targets for the upcoming fiscal year 2022-23 including the economic growth target set at 5%, along with the commitment to make efforts to raise it to 6 percent.
The NEC, presided over by Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, also approved various sectors’ growth targets for the new fiscal year including agriculture 3.9%, industries 5.9% and services 5.1 percent.
The Council also approved the Macro-Economic Framework for Annual Plan 2022-23. The proposed allocation of Rs. 800 billion for Public Sector Development Plan (PSDP) for the next fiscal was also approved by the Council.
The Council unanimously decided that 60% of the development budget would be spent on the ongoing projects, while the remaining 40% would be spent on the new development schemes.
The NEC, which was presented with a review of development budget 2021-22, was told that only Rs. 550 billion out of the total allocated amount of Rs. 900 billion in the PSDP 2021-22 could be spent during the outgoing fiscal due to less economic and development activities caused by coronavirus pandemic.
The Prime Minister said that since the forum of NEC reflected national unity, its basic objective was to boost national harmony for strengthening the federation through coordinated efforts.
He said that NEC should keep in view the inequality and it was the joint responsibility of the center and provinces to play their role for balanced regional development.
The Prime Minister said that owing to the past imprudent policy measures, the country was facing such a situation where the internal and external challenges have put the economic stability in danger.
He said the present government inherited an economy faced with instable fiscal situation as well as the severe challenges of external sector, inflation, unemployment, poverty and instability.
The Prime Minister said his government was fully cognizant of the internal unusual economic instability and the external challenges.
The government not only put the economy on right track but besides reformation of energy sector took reforms measures to correct imbalance in the internal and external sectors.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that employment of people and improving the quality of life were among the present government’s foremost priorities, adding, that improving economic indicators and increasing investment in manpower was the part of his government’s long-term vision.
He said that the present government’s development framework focused on social welfare, protection of water resources, agriculture, climate change, knowledge economy and benefitting from economic potential through regional equality.
The Prime Minister said that the government’s foremost priority was to improve people’s lives through economic turnaround, adding, the government was fully focusing on improvement in infrastructure and administrative matters, uninterrupted and low cost energy, and the provision of uniform quality education and basic facilities.
He said that the present government believed in improving the lives of people through regional values and responsibilities for economic inclusiveness, poverty alleviation, institutional reforms, infrastructure, education, skills training and the provision of better health facilities.
The Prime Minister said that the government was fully cognizant of the problems caused by international economic environment and the country’s situation.
He said that the situation was difficult but not impregnable, adding, the government was committed to address these challenges and was taking all necessary measures.
The Prime Minister said that the fruits of government’s efforts in some sectors have started coming, adding, the government fully believed in the fact that stable economy and improved security situation guaranteed peace and prosperity in the whole world and the region.
He directed that efforts should be made to ensure the supply of essential items and check inflation. All the provinces should take measures in that respect, he said, adding, the expansion of agriculture sector should be specially focused.
The Prime Minister said that special projects should be initiated for the development of backward areas including the districts of Baluchistan. He also directed to include important and mega projects in PSDP.
The Council also approved various revised development projects approved under the Central Development Working Party (CDWP), Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) and Divisional Development Working Party (DDWP).
