Tarin admits growth rate hit by rising inflation

By Muhammad JuniadPublished On 06 Jan 2023

Federal Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin has said that rising inflation has hit the growth rate in the country, bringing it down by 2 to 2.5 percent.

His admission came just days after the government claimed that the growth rate had increased to 5.37%.

Tarin said that the 5.37% growth rate for the fiscal year 2021 was remarkable but the economy would grow at the rate of 5% in the current fiscal year.

He also hinted that prices may not go down for the next three months. Earlier, government ministers had claimed that inflation will slow down by April 2022.

The finance minister said that inflation was caused by an international price rise.

The government suffered from the four big crises in four years, current account deficit, pandemic, commodity price management, and Afghanistan’s dependency, he added.

He lauded Prime Minister Imran Khan’s decision of not imposing a complete lockdown during the Covid-19 epidemic and saving the country from a full-blown financial crisis.

He said the government has given subsidies in agriculture and textile industries to grow exports.

The auto sector, he said, recorded “exceptional” growth of 35% and big industry posted 3.3% growth.

“Afghanistan’s dependency has caused the dollar shortfall in Pakistan,” he said. “The government has offered Taliban to trade in the Pakistani currency.”

This step will ease the pressure on the local currency.

He said that Rs10 billion loans will be given to the youth under the Kamyab Pakistan program.

Talking about the International Monetary Fund meeting, he said the review meeting was postponed at the request of the government because the National Assembly was yet to pass the supplementary finance bill 2021,” he said.

IMF Executive Board has postponed its meeting to review steps taken by the Pakistani government to implement its demands. The session, which was scheduled for January 28, will now be held on February 2.