WASHINGTON, October 23 (INP): Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said China's response to Pakistan’s request to lengthen maturities for debt involved in the Belt and Road Initiative had been encouraging though the negotiations are in their early days. In an interview to Bloomberg, he said,  Pakistan was seeing a period of stability after securing a new $7 billion loan program from the International Monetary Fund.  It has also seen partners including China roll over debt of $16 billion from a total of about $26 billion due in the current fiscal year that started in July. Pakistan’s government is committed to changing the country's economic DNA by moving it to an investment led rather than aid led, said Finance Minister.

Speaking at an event titled "Pakistan: From Stabilisation to Sustainable Growth via Structural Reforms" which was hosted by Jihad Azour, the IMF's Director of the Middle East and Central Asia department, the finance minister maintained that the country has no choice but to execute the multifaceted structural reforms, listing broadening the tax net, energy reforms and privatisation of the SOEs as the most integra" We cannot get onto a sustainable growth path unless we fix our energy equation; bring the untaxed and undertaxed into the net, said the minister. "We need to understand that the reason why we had so many boom and bust cycles is [...] and the reason for that is that the DNA of our economy so far has been importing led and import-dependent, so we have to change the DNA of the economy towards export led," added Aurangzeb.

He insisted that Pakistan has to make corrections in its economy for its own sake, as "dole-outs" were not available anymore. "From the country's perspective, sustainability in terms of how we want to take the country forward — not aid led but investment led," he noted. Reiterating that the government had no business in being in business, he remarked: "Government has to provide the policy framework and policy continuity. It's the private sector which has to lead the country." The minister said that the government was moving to pass legislation to "get rid of the word 'non-filer'," and ensure enforcement.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP) — Pak-China