Ongoing reforms in the energy sector, state-owned enterprises

Islamabad:

Finance and Revenue Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Wednesday highlighted the reforms carried out in Pakistan’s energy sector and state-owned enterprises (SOEs), including the privatization of state-owned companies.

In a meeting with a delegation of Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Global Ratings at the Finance Department, the minister underlined the confidence shown by multilateral institutions by providing financing for various projects in Pakistan.

The S&P delegation was led by Sovereign and International Public Finance Ratings directors Yee Farn Phua and Andrew David Wood.

Aurangzeb gave an update on Pakistan’s current economic situation, where he described the successful completion of a nine-month standby agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and improved macroeconomic indicators.

These indicators included foreign exchange reserve formation at $9.4 billion, strong stock market performance, downward trend in inflation with Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation.
down to 12.6% in June and a 7.7% year-on-year increase in remittances from workers abroad.

He highlighted the government’s efforts to broaden the tax base as tax collection increased by 30% during the financial year 2023-24 and further improve the tax-to-GDP ratio.

Pakistan is currently in talks with the IMF on a new medium-term program to support the country’s economic reform agenda.

The finance minister, who was present at the meeting, reiterated the stable and optimistic outlook and referred to the government’s economic reforms, which were reflected in the 25 budget.

The S&P delegation appreciated the fiscal measures taken by the government of Pakistan and acknowledged the improvement in economic indicators.