PTI Govt borrows Rs 11.5 trillion

Aftab Ahmed

The PTI government has borrowed Rs 11.5 trillion during the last two years.

The Minister for Finance Abdul Hafeez Sheikh had recently briefed the cabinet about Pakistan’s current debt situation. He informed the cabinet that, at present, the total debt is Rs 36,500. It stood at Rs 25,000 billion when the present government took charge in 2018.

He highlighted that the present government had paid Rs 6,000 billion for debt servicing out of total debt amounting to Rs 11,500 billion during the past two years.

PTI government also paid Rs 3,000 billion for correction in the dollar exchange rate. It utilized Rs1, 500 billion as subsidies and to meet the tax collection shortfall due to COVID-19. He also informed primary balance turned into a surplus in the last two quarters of the financial year 2020-2021.

Minister for Planning said the economic indicators showed a positive trend, whereas the current account balance remained sustainable.  Exports also recorded a very positive trend, recording the highest in many years.

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He said remittances from abroad stood at higher compared to the previous year. The agriculture sector gave a positive signal, except cotton, which could not meet the mark due to heavy loss of crop in Sindh during rains.

The manufacturing sector exhibited phenomenal growth resulting in substantial employment generation. The private sector borrowing has also shown positive growth.

The economy was on |the right track in a situation when most of the developed countries were still struggling to come out of the Covid-setback.

The Prime Minister suggested carrying out a comparison of key economic indicators with neighboring economies to gauge the real impact of the present government’s economic policies.