Nearly all targets set for fiscal year 2014-15 were missed. This is what the Economic Survey of Pakistan 2014-15 actually tells us. According to it, Pakistani exports declined due to incompetitiveness of local exporters vis-à-vis regional countries, slow down in international trade, energy shortfalls and falling international prices of commodities.
Moreover, some of the Free-Trade Agreements (FTAs) that Pakistan has inked with various countries have contributed to worsening country's trade imbalances. It is, however,, interesting to note that the Survey has attributed the so-called successes to the International Monetary Fund. According to it, "Fiscal data indicates that the government was able to contain its deficit due to low growth in expenditure. Also, the financing mix improved as increased external funding reduced the burden on the banking system, particularly on the central bank. Consequently, for the first time in the current IMF programme, the country met all the quantitative (performance) targets for end-December 2014". The Survey, however, doesn't concede the fact that a 'strong' rupee has made our exports uncompetitive. This is not an objective assessment of country's economy.
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