ISLAMABAD : Federal Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has stressed the need to stabilise economy to get rid of the burden of debt.Minister Aurangzeb was addressing a discussion on the “increasing global debt burden on developing economies” during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the other day.He mentioned Pakistan government’s efforts to stabilise economy by “reducing expenditures and debt servicing.”He said that Pakistan’s debt-to-GDP ratio has decreased from 78 percent to 67 percent.
The finance minister also highlighted rising population, poverty and environmental issues as main hurdles to economic stability. He mentioned 10-year partnership programme with the World Bank for country’s sustainable economic development.He emphasized that in the second phase of CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor), the focus will shift to promoting business-to-business engagement. He said Chinese companies will be encouraged to relocate their production units to Pakistan under CPEC Phase II.
He hoped that Chinese companies could potentially make Pakistan the hub for their exports.Minister Aurangzeb said that Pakistan’s biggest problem has been the twin deficits of the current account and fiscal account. The main reason for the fiscal deficit has been the unsustainable tax-to-GDP ratio of 9 to 10 percent.
