Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Thursday said Pakistan does not need assistance from the United Nations for flood-related efforts, maintaining the country has sufficient resources within its development budget of Rs. 4.3 trillion for all required rehabilitation work.
Addressing a Pakistan Business Summit as a keynote speaker in Peshawar, he said the funds could be repurposed through coordination between the federal government and provinces to address the devastation caused by this year’s floods.
During his speech, Aurangzeb noted a rise in remittances to Pakistan, highlighting they had reached $38 billion last year and were projected to grow to $41-43 billion this year. He said Pakistan had successfully repaid $500 million in Eurobond obligations in September, adding it was well-positioned to repay the $1.3 billion Eurobond maturing in April 2026.
On the policy rate, he said the government expected the central bank to lower it from the existing 11% within this fiscal year. “Although the policy rate is very much the domain of the central bank, I think there is enough cushion that we can continue to push the rate south during the course of this fiscal year,” he said.
The finance minister backed an effective structural reform agenda to advance the private sector, saying the government needed to restore the trust and credibility of tax authorities. “We are making progress in both deepening and widening the tax base,” he maintained, noting the Federal Board of Revenue was now a tax/revenue collection forum and had no role in economic policymaking.
Regarding the government’s ongoing efforts to privatize loss-making state-owned entities, Aurangzeb said the Privatization Commission spearheading the offloading of 24 entities. He also claimed “tangible” results with regards to foreign direct investment from recent visits to Beijing, Riyadh, and New York.