In the context of a new IMF program and upcoming budget for FY 2024-2035, Pakistan\u2019s economic stabilization reforms need to have a human face to promote balanced recovery and inclusive growth that does not burden the people and improves the country\u2019s human development indicators.
This was the consensus amongst leading national and international policy experts who spoke at a high-level panel discussion on national economic reforms organized by UNDP, SDPI, and the World Bank as part of the Prosperity for Pakistan initiative.
Moderated by senior economic journalist, Khurram Hussain, the panel discussion featured Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, Former Caretaker Minister for Finance and Revenue; Ms. Kanni Wignaraja, U.N. Assistant Secretary-General, UNDP Administrator and Regional Director for Asia- Pacific; Mr. Tobias Akhtar Haque, Lead Country Economist and Acting Country Director, World Bank Pakistan; and Dr. Abid Suleri, Executive Director, SDPI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Shamshad Akhtar highlighted the need for a whole-of-government approach for reforms. \u201cMacroeconomic stability has to be our religion,\u201d she argued. \u201cWe have to make sure that it is adequate to get us out of the low and volatile growth trap, and it should be re-enforced by bold structural reforms. The single most important obsession the country should have is revenue enhancement and export earnings.\u201d
UNDP Regional Director, Ms. Kanni Wignaraja highlighted the findings of UNDP\u2019s 2023 Integrated SDG Insights Report for Pakistan showing that the country is on track to achieve only 35 out of 169 SDG targets. \u201cThe road to Agenda 2030 will be long and tough,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAchieving an ambitious growth target will require steadfast political will, consistency in policy reforms, and innovative policy solutions with an eye toward enhancing productivity, revenue, and financing. Any country where half the population does not have the same opportunity cannot be a prosperous country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
World Bank\u2019s Tobias Haque identified regressive subsidies in energy, fertilizer, and gas sectors and the fiscal cost of state-owned enterprises contributing to fiscal pressures in Pakistan. \u201cThe burden of reforms need to be spread more broadly and further measures to increase tax returns should be targeted at the top of the income distribution,\u201d he advised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Addressing climate vulnerability and climate financing, Dr. Abid Suleri of SDPI stated: \u201cMore than climate vulnerability, Pakistan\u2019s negotiations on climate financing should be centered around the private sector climate equity and community response in the wake of 2022 floods.\u201d
Earlier at the event, UNDP Pakistan Resident Representative welcomed the guests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe anticipate that stabilization policies will continue over the next 3-5 years, and to be successful, these policies need to be people-centric and address economic injustice,\u201d he said.
The participants agreed that the Government needs to balance economic recovery with stabilization, to create income and livelihood opportunities for the people, and discussed the National Economic Recovery Plan focused on the following reforms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Ensuring solvency, revenue and fiscal sustainability;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Bending the political economy of Pakistan toward economic justice and good governance:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Reducing deficit through inclusive growth and effective import-export management;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Transitioning to green economy;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Ensuring social protection and social safety nets to minimize the adverse impact of structural reforms on the most vulnerable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the context of a new IMF program and upcoming budget for FY 2024-2035, Pakistan\u2019s economic stabilization reforms need to have a human face to promote balanced recovery and inclusive … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":792,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[170,171,169],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pcn58.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pcn58.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pcn58.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pcn58.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pcn58.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=791"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pcn58.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":793,"href":"https:\/\/pcn58.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791\/revisions\/793"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pcn58.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pcn58.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pcn58.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pcn58.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}