Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb chaired a meeting of Revenue Mobilisation, Investment and Trade Programme (REMIT) Steering Committee here today to review the status and progress on the implementation of decisions taken by the Committee in its earlier meeting with regard to revenue mobilization, investment climate, trade and macro-economy.
British High Commissioner to Pakistan, Ms Jane Marriott and senior leadership from key government ministries, including Ministry of Planning, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Industries and Production, Board of Investment, FBR and REMIT’s implementing partners – World Bank, GCSI and ASI were also present.
The Committee reviewed the work done by the stakeholders in different sectors of the economy, particularly revenue mobilisation, investment climate, macroeconomic governance, trade and climate change for the purpose of strengthening macroeconomic stability and improving conditions for high and sustained inclusive growth.
Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb appreciated the overall progress of the Programme and called for a more proactive and dedicated approach on the part of different stakeholders for urgent implementation of final deliverables under the Programme.
The Minister said he would personally oversee progress in completion of various activities, outputs and outcomes of the Programme to keep it on track.
Similarly, LSM’s 0.9% growth forecast for the third quarter will also emerge, as the 2.52% growth in July exceeded expectations despite the decline in August. The textile sector (with the largest share at 18.2%) is recovering after 24 consecutive months of contraction. The automobile sector also recorded significant growth in the first quarter. LSM’s performance therefore appears in line with the forecast, indicating the strength of the market and its contribution to the management of the tax plan.
In addition, the positive effects of the recession, the impact of the reduction of the policy rate and the reduction of credit interest rates are also ignored in the article. Also, the news that LSM growth was 1.3% in the first quarter is based on incomplete data, as the main data is now only available for two months (July and August). Drawing conclusions from these partial data is premature and distorts the true course of LSM development.