Re: Pak GDP growth 7.02 pc this year.
Economically Pakistan is a changed country.
Mashallah.
ISLAMABAD, Jun 12 (APP): Minister of State for Finance, Omar Ayub Khan has said that economically Pakistan is a changed country now if compared with the conditions that prevailed 7-8 years ago.
Talking to a private television channel the Minister said that size of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has doubled.
He said keeping in view the constant growth in economy, out of the box thinking is required by all stakeholders.
The Minister said that opposition is expected to appreciate the positive steps alongside criticising the government.
It is unfortunate that opposition kept shouting in the National Assembly without paying any heed to the contents of the budget, he said.
He said the opposition parties have been claiming for the past few years that they will present a parallel budget proposal in the house in response to official budget adding but this claim still remain unfulfilled.
He said government has the courage to listen to opposition’s criticism but that should be purposeful and creative.
Criticism for the sake of criticism should not be the characteristic of the opposition as it serves no purpose, the Minister said.
Omar said the buying capacity of the people has enhanced manifold which shows boost in economic activity.
He said the unexpected surge in the demand side has rendered the capacity expansion move of the industrial sector paralysed.
There had been unprecedented capacity expansion activity in the manufacturing sector over the past few years but the efforts are not meeting the constantly growing demand in the market.
The Minister said to ensure continuity of growth it is imperative to construct new mega dams including Kalabagh at the earliest.
To a question the Minister said that consultation is going on with WAPDA on financial improvement plan so that the organization could restructure itself in line with the current demands.
To another question he said that policies of the government would continue during the caretaker government vis-a-vis general election adding the present financial team including bureaucrates and technocrats would continue to work as usual.
The Minister said that there is lot of strength in the economy and its wheel would continue to rotate in the positive direction.