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islamabad: Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar on Wednesday said that macroeconomic indicators were showing resilience due to economic reforms initiated by the government, as the foreign exchange reserves surged to $16 billion benchmark.
He further said that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government had been able to implement the economic reforms agenda as per party’s manifesto during last 19 months. “The successful sixth IMF quarterly review was a testament to the policies of the Government. This showed that the reforms programme had taken root and that the direction of the economy was correct”, Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar said while addressing a conference on “change of base of price indices” organised by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics in collaboration with the World Bank.
Giving a review of the state of national economy, Ishaq Dar said that inflation in the country had been controlled through firm measures as well as constant monitoring by the Government. While falling oil prices had helped, even food inflation was at a low level, coming down from 7.0pc in January 2014 to 3.0pc last month. Simultaneously, he added, the Sensitive Price Index (SPI) had also shown a major decline over the last one year. Overall, the year-on-year average CPI for the period July 2014 - January 2015 stood at 5.77pc. The monthly inflation fell to 4.3pc in December 2014 - its lowest level in over 11 years - and had plunged further to 3.9pc in January 2015, the Minister said.
The minister said the government believed in openness and transparency. That was why it was endeavoring to make the PBS an autonomous body so that it could collect data independently and in a transparent manner.
The Minister made special mention of the new initiatives taken by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics with updation of urban and rural sampling frame of the country, topping them all. The second initiative, he said, was the periodic re-basing of National Accounts and Price Statistics. Trade Statistics would also be re-based from 1990-91 base to 2015-16. Another important policy decision was to merge the Agricultural Machinery, Livestock and Agricultural Surveys into one survey, to be carried out every five years. Regarding Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement (PSLM) Survey, the Survey would continue even after the completion of the project in June 2015, the Minister said. Moving on to main theme of the conference the Minister said he had always been a strong supporter of giving independence to Government entities including the Corporate Law Authority and the Federal Bureau of Statistics. He supported the legislation to that effect. “I am happy that while the Corporate Law Authority has developed into Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, the erstwhile Federal Bureau of Statistics had gained independence under the nomenclature of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics”, Dar remarked. He said it was the Governing Council of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics that took the policy decision in December 2013 to re-base the National Accounts as well as the Price Statistics every 10 years.
In pursuance of that decision, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics has started work on re-basing of National Accounts as well as price statistics. The last re-basing on price statistics was done in 2007-08. This re-basing (year 2015) would help update the methodology for computing inflation - an economic indicator that is most widely discussed and debated, the Minister said.
The Minister appreciated the support of international agencies like GIZ, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNDP, DFID, IMF, UN Habitat and ADB to PBS over the past few years. He welcomed any further technical support in this regard. He also thanked the World Bank for its support in organising the conference.
Earlier in her address, Ghazala Mansuri from the World Bank said they fully supported the measures for bringing about improvement in the procedures for quality data collection and its availability. She emphasised that due attention should also be paid in collecting data from rural areas as it was important for determining the overall economic and social standards in a country.
Asif Bajwa, Chief Statistician, PBS in his opening remarks said the conference was being organised in collaboration with the WB and proposals put forth at this forum for upgradation in data collection, storing and sharing would be useful for PBS. He said the Bureau was re-organised in 2011. The Governing Council of the PBS in its 5th meeting chaired by Finance Minister had taken the decision to change the base year from 2007-8 to 2015 and the decision was being implemented.
$16b reserves show reforms paying off, says Dar
He further said that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government had been able to implement the economic reforms agenda as per party’s manifesto during last 19 months. “The successful sixth IMF quarterly review was a testament to the policies of the Government. This showed that the reforms programme had taken root and that the direction of the economy was correct”, Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar said while addressing a conference on “change of base of price indices” organised by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics in collaboration with the World Bank.
Giving a review of the state of national economy, Ishaq Dar said that inflation in the country had been controlled through firm measures as well as constant monitoring by the Government. While falling oil prices had helped, even food inflation was at a low level, coming down from 7.0pc in January 2014 to 3.0pc last month. Simultaneously, he added, the Sensitive Price Index (SPI) had also shown a major decline over the last one year. Overall, the year-on-year average CPI for the period July 2014 - January 2015 stood at 5.77pc. The monthly inflation fell to 4.3pc in December 2014 - its lowest level in over 11 years - and had plunged further to 3.9pc in January 2015, the Minister said.
The minister said the government believed in openness and transparency. That was why it was endeavoring to make the PBS an autonomous body so that it could collect data independently and in a transparent manner.
The Minister made special mention of the new initiatives taken by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics with updation of urban and rural sampling frame of the country, topping them all. The second initiative, he said, was the periodic re-basing of National Accounts and Price Statistics. Trade Statistics would also be re-based from 1990-91 base to 2015-16. Another important policy decision was to merge the Agricultural Machinery, Livestock and Agricultural Surveys into one survey, to be carried out every five years. Regarding Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement (PSLM) Survey, the Survey would continue even after the completion of the project in June 2015, the Minister said. Moving on to main theme of the conference the Minister said he had always been a strong supporter of giving independence to Government entities including the Corporate Law Authority and the Federal Bureau of Statistics. He supported the legislation to that effect. “I am happy that while the Corporate Law Authority has developed into Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, the erstwhile Federal Bureau of Statistics had gained independence under the nomenclature of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics”, Dar remarked. He said it was the Governing Council of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics that took the policy decision in December 2013 to re-base the National Accounts as well as the Price Statistics every 10 years.
In pursuance of that decision, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics has started work on re-basing of National Accounts as well as price statistics. The last re-basing on price statistics was done in 2007-08. This re-basing (year 2015) would help update the methodology for computing inflation - an economic indicator that is most widely discussed and debated, the Minister said.
The Minister appreciated the support of international agencies like GIZ, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNDP, DFID, IMF, UN Habitat and ADB to PBS over the past few years. He welcomed any further technical support in this regard. He also thanked the World Bank for its support in organising the conference.
Earlier in her address, Ghazala Mansuri from the World Bank said they fully supported the measures for bringing about improvement in the procedures for quality data collection and its availability. She emphasised that due attention should also be paid in collecting data from rural areas as it was important for determining the overall economic and social standards in a country.
Asif Bajwa, Chief Statistician, PBS in his opening remarks said the conference was being organised in collaboration with the WB and proposals put forth at this forum for upgradation in data collection, storing and sharing would be useful for PBS. He said the Bureau was re-organised in 2011. The Governing Council of the PBS in its 5th meeting chaired by Finance Minister had taken the decision to change the base year from 2007-8 to 2015 and the decision was being implemented.
$16b reserves show reforms paying off, says Dar
