Prof Ahsan Iqbal, Minister of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, has expressed the need to raise exports to $100 billion from $30 billion over the next five years, to meet the country’s external financing needs.

Speaking at a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Planning, he said the annual funding requirements for the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) is over Rs1,900 billion. However, the government can set aside only Rs700 billion for the current financial year due to financial constraints in the current fiscal year.

He said that the government was running on borrowing as the tax and non-tax revenues of the federal government would be Rs9,000 billion this year, out of which Rs4,000 billion would go to the provinces, and Rs4,000 billion would be spent on paying debts. Ahsan said the government is ready to hold the 11th meeting of the Pakistan-China Joint Coordination Committee on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

China has the Belt and Road Initiative plan and Pakistan has the advantage of its location, he said. The two countries can become a trade hub between a large region, he said, if even 5% of China's trade starts from Pakistan, it will be of great benefit to Pakistan. Chinese companies have set up energy projects in independent power plants, he said, adding that the concessional loans were given by China for infrastructure projects.

The minister said due to the high cost of labour in China, more than 80 million new employment opportunities are being created from which Pakistan can benefit. He said that after the 18th amendment, 58% of the revenue under the National Finance Commission goes to the provinces. In the meeting, Syed Mahmood Shah, a committee member, complained that not a single project was included in the PSDP 2022-23 in his constituency.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk