Pakistan poised to become fast growing economy: WB

[farhan_9909]

World Bank (WB) President Jim Yong Kim has said that Pakistan is poised to become the next fast growing successful economy due to important steps taken by the government over the past few years.

Addressing a meeting on the country’s economic performance on Tuesday, he pointed out that the country has made significant strides to achieve micro economic stability and enhance its domestic revenues by introducing reforms in the tax system.

He said that the country had also undertaken a number of important steps to improve business climate. He said that Pakistan has an important geo strategic location and peace and stability in the country is imperative for the entire world.

He said the World Bank, being a partner, will support the government’s initiatives to bolster economic growth and provide assistance in the areas of need.

“We are not visiting Pakistan to give prescriptions but will lend support to further consolidate gains made in the economic sector,” he said.

The World Bank president emphasised the need for bringing dynamism in the private sector saying this will generate immense employment opportunities and lift the people out of poverty. He also underlined the need for more investments in the education and health sectors.

Earlier, Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar apprised the World Bank president about the country’s economic performance. He said the present government assumed power in difficult circumstances but due to prudent policies, it averted the default.

He said the revenue collection has witnessed significant growth over the last three years and budget deficit has been reduced. He said we are on track to reduce it to 4.3 per cent during the current fiscal year.

The minister said that the country is expected to achieve more than five per cent of GDP growth due to improved performance of various sectors particularly manufacturing. He said the inflation had been brought down to 2.1 per cent, which is the lowest in the last twelve years.

Dar said that allocations for social safety nets have been tripled to protect the vulnerable groups. He said that, currently, five million deserving families are being provided stipends under the Income Support Programme and the government’s target is to enhance it to 5.4 million families by the end of this year.

He said that as part of efforts to give an impetus to economic growth, development spending has been doubled. He said the government is also on track to address the energy crisis and by the end of March 2018, 10,000 MW of electricity will be added to the national grid.

He said privatisation policy is being pursued to improve the performance and service delivery of public sector enterprises. He said the country is treading

http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/201...-poised-to-become-fast-growing-economy-wb/the right path to consolidate the gains achieved over the past few years. He said the policies are aimed at ensuring inclusive and sustainable growth in the years to come.

 

[Abingdonboy]

World Bank (WB) President Jim Yong Kim has said that Pakistan is poised to become the next fast growing successful economy due to important steps taken by the government over the past few years.

Addressing a meeting on the country’s economic performance on Tuesday, he pointed out that the country has made significant strides to achieve micro economic stability and enhance its domestic revenues by introducing reforms in the tax system.

He said that the country had also undertaken a number of important steps to improve business climate. He said that Pakistan has an important geo strategic location and peace and stability in the country is imperative for the entire world.

He said the World Bank, being a partner, will support the government’s initiatives to bolster economic growth and provide assistance in the areas of need.

“We are not visiting Pakistan to give prescriptions but will lend support to further consolidate gains made in the economic sector,” he said.

The World Bank president emphasised the need for bringing dynamism in the private sector saying this will generate immense employment opportunities and lift the people out of poverty. He also underlined the need for more investments in the education and health sectors.

Earlier, Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar apprised the World Bank president about the country’s economic performance. He said the present government assumed power in difficult circumstances but due to prudent policies, it averted the default.

He said the revenue collection has witnessed significant growth over the last three years and budget deficit has been reduced. He said we are on track to reduce it to 4.3 per cent during the current fiscal year.

The minister said that the country is expected to achieve more than five per cent of GDP growth due to improved performance of various sectors particularly manufacturing. He said the inflation had been brought down to 2.1 per cent, which is the lowest in the last twelve years.

Dar said that allocations for social safety nets have been tripled to protect the vulnerable groups. He said that, currently, five million deserving families are being provided stipends under the Income Support Programme and the government’s target is to enhance it to 5.4 million families by the end of this year.

He said that as part of efforts to give an impetus to economic growth, development spending has been doubled. He said the government is also on track to address the energy crisis and by the end of March 2018, 10,000 MW of electricity will be added to the national grid.

He said privatisation policy is being pursued to improve the performance and service delivery of public sector enterprises. He said the country is treading

http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/201...-poised-to-become-fast-growing-economy-wb/the right path to consolidate the gains achieved over the past few years. He said the policies are aimed at ensuring inclusive and sustainable growth in the years to come.

What are Pakistan's growth projections according to the world bank from 2015-2020? According to the IMF, Pakistan is going to one of the poorer performers in the region.

 

[Major Sam]

What are Pakistan's growth projections according to the world bank from 2015-2020? According to the IMF, Pakistan is going to one of the poorer performers in the region.

WB has projected 5.5.

 

[Muhammad Omar]

He said that as part of efforts to give an impetus to economic growth, development spending has been doubled. He said the government is also on track to address the energy crisis and by the end of March 2018, 10,000 MW of electricity will be added to the national grid.


If that happens till march yes our GDP will grow from 4.5% per year to 6 or 6.5% per year.... Insha Allah

 

[Nothing]

I think it will start sprinting towards growth in year or so. Having stable government is good for countries image as well it increases confidence among investors. Again with winding down WoT it can allocate more resources towards developments.
China is anyway helping which will prove booster as well.

 

[Blue Marlin]

He said that as part of efforts to give an impetus to economic growth, development spending has been doubled. He said the government is also on track to address the energy crisis and by the end of March 2018, 10,000 MW of electricity will be added to the national grid.


If that happens till march yes our GDP will grow from 4.5% per year to 6 or 6.5% per year.... Insha Allah

here is a fact you ma have not known. due to power shortages it costs pakistan 1% of its gdp.
also as a whole it depends if pakistani politicains are wise enough to help their own country other than their own bank ballance.

 

[Abingdonboy]

WB has projected 5.5.

Interesting, IMF is not so optimisitic:

 

[farhan_9909]

What are Pakistan's growth projections according to the world bank from 2015-2020? According to the IMF, Pakistan is going to one of the poorer performers in the region.

Both WB and IMF projection for the next five years are around 5% but projections are changed every few months.

Though i doubt Pakistan will make it pass 5% this year but it it really does than expect 6% plus growth within 2 years.

 

[That Guy]

What are Pakistan's growth projections according to the world bank from 2015-2020? According to the IMF, Pakistan is going to one of the poorer performers in the region.

IMF's estimations are actually positive. It's going to do average for the next 4 years, averaging 4-5% growth, due to economic reforms that are being implemented. WB is more optimistic, at least from their statements, but their numbers are similar to IMF's numbers.

IMF and WB aren't mainly looking at the next 4 to 5 years, they're looking at the next 36 years. At worst case, Pakistan will achieve a trillion dollar economy by 2050, but they're hoping that economic reforms will help Pakistan achieve it much faster (by at least 10-15 years). IF everything goes to plan, Pakistan is hoping to achieve a GDP of $3.3 trillion by 2050.

 

[Major Sam]

Interesting, IMF is not so optimisitic:

I said its forecast by WB. Did i say by IMF?

 

[WaLeEdK2]

Let's try to get at least 6% first then become optimistic of fastest growing economy.

 

[A.M.]

But i thought this government has been the most corrupt of all time?

/s

 

[Talwar e Pakistan]

What are Pakistan's growth projections according to the world bank from 2015-2020? According to the IMF, Pakistan is going to one of the poorer performers in the region.

Well looking at the stats - we may as well surpass India;
Currently our growth rate is 4.6 ; our average went from 6-7 to 4-5 at the beginning of War on Terror which has cost us up to 80 billion dollars.

-2% of our growth rate is due to energy deficiency which will be solved by 2018

another
-2% of our growth rate is due to the fact that our economy is 40% undocumented, which the government is also taking steps to solve.

Pakistan is fighting two full-fledged wars and insurgencies which has hurt us 80 billion dollars;

Balochistan: Most of BLA has already surrendered but pockets remain in remote mountains - they now number less than 100.

Northern Areas: Due to Operation Zarb e Azb; terrorists no longer hold land in the North - all of their facilities, factories and other terror infrastructure has been destroyed - terrorist overall has gone down significantly and Operation Zarb e Azb is in its final phase.

Around 60-80 billion dollars worth of investments were poured into Pakistan in 2015 alone - this includes CPEC, which will divert all trade enroute to China from the Gulf, Suez, and East Africa to Gwadar, this can make Pakistan as one of the centers of trade. This also includes loads of energy projects.

Stability has also significantly increased, crime in Karachi has decreased by 40% in one year alone. BLA has lost its support, and TTP is on the verge of extinction. Ranger operations will also be played out into Punjab as well.

By 2020; I can easily say our economic growth will reach 8-9% and probably even 10% if we do stuff right.

Interesting, IMF is not so optimisitic:

IMF doesnt even know the difference between flag of Angola and Mynamar - how can we take them seriously?

 

[RoadRunner401]

Pakistan. GDP growth has had a smoother upward incline since 2008. According to a report by the State Bank of Pakistan, the contribution by the industrial and manufacturing sectors to GDP jumped significantly in 2012–2013 (by 5.4 percent) despite power shortages. Also encouraging is that 58 percent of the GDP share came from growth in services.

February 2015, the Pakistani Ministry of Textiles announced that more than 200 new textile industries were registered and, if the energy crisis were solved, production in textile products could flourish. A similar outlook can be seen for other sectors of Pakistan: Growth in sectors such as paper and board, automobiles, and cement have been bogged down by energy shortages but are ripe with growth opportunities.

The IMF director for Middle East and Central Asia, Masood Ahmed, praised Pakistan for implementing some prudent monetary and fiscal policies, strengthening public finances and rebuilding foreign-exchange buffers. Whereas unemployment rates remain stagnant at about 5 percent, a report by the ILO revealed that job market and labor quality actually improved in Pakistan compared to countries such as India, Sri Lanka, and Mexico between 2007 and 2011.
Though barriers to trade still exist, including extensive government protection of the automotive and agriculture sectors, one of the most promising areas of growth for Pakistan is international trade. Tariffs have been slashed by half since 2002, and Pakistan has been opening its markets to greater trade opportunities. Imports tripled in the past decade. Although oil remains the top import, Pakistan now imports more machinery, electronics, vehicles, industrial inputs of plastics, metals and chemicals, and technology—all of which will spur further domestic investment and growth.

According to the 2015 Doing Business report by the World Bank, Pakistan’s rankingfor ease of doing business fell slightly, from 127 to 128 of 189 countries. Businesses found it increasingly difficult to start a business (19 days), obtain permits (249 days), get power, or import and register property (50 days). However, the report mentions that Pakistan facilitated cross-border trade by introducing a fully automated and computerized system to process goods through customs.

Regarding intra-regional trade, Pakistan is a member of the eight-country South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), a regional economic and political cooperation group. Pakistan signed the SAARC’s South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) in 2006 with neighboring countries including India. The aim of SAFTA is an eventual regional customs union and common market but it is still not fully implemented, notwithstanding the significant yet unrealized potential for trade and investment that exists among SAARC member states.

Intra-regional trade accounts for only 4 percent of total SAARC trade, but greater regional integration and connectivity will help the SAARC countries to create new opportunities within and outside the region. Pakistan also has similar trade deals with Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia, and is in the process of signing a free trade agreement (FTA) with Turkey. The government informed the National Assembly in early 2015 that a larger trade deal with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations was in the works, which would open Pakistani markets to Asia’s emerging economies and create opportunities for Pakistani exports.

In 2013, the European Union granted Pakistan GSP-plus status under its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), which caused a flurry of new economic activity in Pakistan, especially in the textile sector. According to estimates by the Pakistan Business Council, the GSP-plus status would start to boost exports by $1 billion each year by 2017. This boost in exports, at least in theory, could create opportunities for Pakistan to increase its market competitiveness, diversify its product mix, and in turn strengthen its industries, allowing the economy to open its markets to more sophisticated products from abroad. It remains to be seen whether the scheme will in fact provide the Pakistani economy the impetus to grow and open, since Pakistan’s manufacturing sector is still coping with electricity shortages, and may not even be able to utilize the zero-duty EU GSP preferences to its advantage. Fully one-quarter of businesses in Pakistan’s textile sector have closed recently, unable to afford the increasing cost of production that came with alternative sources of energy. In addition, Pakistan faces tough competition in the European textiles and clothing markets from Bangladesh, India, China, and Turkey—all of which enjoy some form of EU preferential treatment and whose products are more competitively priced than Pakistani products.

Perhaps the most discussed FTA in Pakistani economic policy circles is the one that Pakistan signed with China in 2006, and completed the first phase of in 2013. It is currently in negotiation for a second phase in which Pakistan will reduce duties to zero on about 50 percent of Chinese products, and China will reduce tariffs to zero for 70 percent of Pakistani products immediately and 20 percent gradually over five years. Pakistani domestic industries complained that cheap Chinese products flooded the markets during the initial phase of the agreement (2006 to 2013) when their own pricier products became comparatively more expensive. Nevertheless, Pakistan’s exports to China still grew dramatically during the first phase, increasing from $259 million to $2.6 billion, a rate of increase relatively greater than growth of exports to other countries. Even though it is also true that more Chinese exports were coming in than Pakistani exports going out, and Chinese trade with other countries also increased, Pakistan benefitted from the higher export growth rates.

 

[Muhammad Omar]

here is a fact you ma have not known. due to power shortages it costs pakistan 1% of its gdp.
also as a whole it depends if pakistani politicains are wise enough to help their own country other than their own bank ballance.

well power shortage cost Pakistan 1.5% - 2% not 1% we are currently at 4.6%