Pakistan puts CPEC among top priorities in medium and long term planning

Gwadar Pro

Islamabad: Pakistan has unveiled its short, medium and long-term planning, putting the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) among top priorities.

The medium-to-long term planning especially includes completion of CPEC projects in agriculture, industrial cooperation, socio-economic development and financial inclusion.

It also includes Utilization of Special Technology Zones, Information Technology (IT) parks, Incubation and Entrepreneurships Centres that complement CPEC investments.

In sphere of power and energy, the long term planning encompasses implementing renewable Energy Policy and National Power Policy to attain the goal of 60% energy generation from non-fossil fuels including hydro-power generation.

Speaking at a news conference here, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin said it was after the year 1972 that such a strategy was being presented by the government under which short, medium and long-term plans were being devised by working groups with the consultation of stakeholders and their implementation would be monitored.

Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Fakhar Imam, Federal Minister for Industries and Production Khusro Bakhtiar, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce Abdul Razaq Dawood, Adviser to the PM on Institutional reforms Dr Ishrat Hussain, Sultan Ali Allana, Arif Habib, Salim Raza, M Ali Tabba and other distinguished members of the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) from respective fields in the private sector also participated in the news conference.

The Finance Minister said a positive sentiment had been generated as economy is on the right track. “It has embarked on the way of economic growth after stabilization phase due to prudent policies of the present government,” he said.

Tarin said the government had put in place comprehensive roadmap, focusing on 14 special sectors of economy, to ensure planned, inclusive and sustainable economic growth in the country.

The Finance Minister briefed the participants about the significance of a long term economic planning to achieve all-inclusive and sustained economic growth over the period of time.

He apprised about the objectives being set across different sectors and strategies outlined to achieve those targets within a specific time frame. Fourteen vertical sub-groups have been generated which will present recommendations to the Prime Minister on different sectors.

The Finance Minister said that from September onwards, performance in 14 sectors would be closely monitored and Prime Minister Imran Khan would be given briefing about the execution of the plans every month.

“Hence plans do not focus only on devising strategies but also on ensuring implementation which is a major break with the past practice. The broad objectives include accelerating the overall economic growth rates from 3% to 6% in the next three years without creating pressure on balance of payments and by keeping inflationary expectations subdued,” he said.

The strategy also includes increasing tax to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio by 1.5 to 2% annually and attaining target of US $30 billion exports by Financial Year (FY) 2023-24 and keep up the momentum in foreign remittances. The key focus is to generate massive employment opportunities over the period of time in order to engage our youth in productive sectors of the economy, said the minister.

The sectors underlined for driving growth through the platform of EAC are agriculture including small farms, micro-enterprises, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), construction, tourism and information technology, he remarked.

This will be achieved through coherent, consistent and well-coordinated polices between the federal and provincial governments as well as the private sector, Tarin added.

Under EAC, the medium and long term agenda includes a multi-pronged strategy for institutional reforms in the public sector. Provincial Governments will prioritize achieving universal access to quality education, health, access to drinking water and sanitation, Tarin said.

Similarly, the Federal and Provincial Government would enhance focus on human development & develop physical infrastructure which is lagging behind in far-flung areas, he said.

Tarin said the EAC, in its advisory and capacity enhancement role, will create synergies across different sectors and facilitate active monitoring and pave way for sustained institutional reforms and modernization of public sector.

The plan for resolving the circular debt includes reducing the cost of electricity generation by flattening the capacity payment curve through restructuring power producers.

“This will be done through a combination of re-profiling of project debts, reduction in Return on Equity (EOC) and Operational and Management (O&M) components of tariffs,” he said.

At the same time, steps will be taken to boost demand for grid electricity by incentivizing captive-to-grid shift and integration of National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC)-Karachi Electric networks, he added.

It will also include replacing cross-subsidies with direct subsidies, lowering tariffs for high consumption categories, target price deregulation and improving governance through engagement with the private sector, he elaborated.

A multi-faceted and multi-dimensional price stability strategy will be that farmers would be offered price guarantees and confirmed off takes to protect them from exploitation at the hands of wholesalers and middleman, the minister said.

Investment through public private partnership will be invited to develop multi-purpose storage facilities for maintaining strategic reserves. Moreover, small markets will be built close to production clusters and air transport could be utilized to give farmers direct access to the far-flung domestic markets, he said.

This will ensure price stability in items of daily use, he maintained. The Finance Minister shared a comprehensive document from the EAC with the participants on the occasion.