Rising remittances, foreign direct investments and private investments have been supporting country's economic growth, as federal government has promised to unveil a more pro-business budget for financial year (FY) 2017.
President of Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) Fareed Mughis Sheikh, Senior Vice President Atta Shafi Tanvir and Vice President Tariq Khan said that multilateral institutions are praising the government and forecasting the renewed and continuing economic, business and financial growth compared to the last government's rule which ended in May 2013.
They hoped that the budget for FY-17 would encourage people to invest in various industries. The gross domestic product (GDP) is up at five per cent, leaving its former range of two to three per cent.
Quoting the World Bank's latest report they said: "Fast-growing home remittances and rising investments under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) have supported the country's economic growth. Pakistan's modest economic growth will continue. The economy, particularly industrial output, will rise further as the government is moving fast to add 10,000 megawatts of power to end energy shortages. It will add another 15,000MW by 2025.The investment-to-GDP ratio may be raised further to 21.1 percent in FY-18. The size of the economy or GDP may be raised from the current Rs 30.672 trillion to Rs 34.801 by FY-17 and to Rs 40 trillion by FY-18. They said that new investment in the public sector may be Rs 210 billion in energy, Rs 470 billion on infrastructure development and the social sector will get Rs 545 billion.
The overall public and private sector investment will be $3 billion in projects such as, gas in FY-17, compared to the current $880 million in FY-16,they added. This investment will enable Pakistan to build infrastructure such as highways and bridges from its own capital rather than from borrowed money.