Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb briefs ECC on State of the Economy

ISLAMABAD, SEPT 20 (DNA) – Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb chaired the meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet today.

The meeting was attended by Minister for Industries and Production Rana Tanveer Hussain, Minister for Power Sardar Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari (virtual), Minister for Planning, Development & Special Initiatives Mr. Ahsan Iqbal, Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Mr. Ali Pervaiz Malik, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, Governor SBP, and Chairman SECP, along with Federal Secretaries and senior officers from the concerned Ministries and Divisions.
At the outset, the Minister for Finance and Revenue shared an update on the current economic situation and macroeconomic stability achieved across all sectors of the economy. He said the currency was now in stable position with foreign exchanges at a 26-month high at the back of “very resilient and strong remittances flows”.
He said the IT exports had also stabilised at about 300 million monthly figure which was a great news for our export sector. He also lauded a steady growth in the RDAs with 165 million dollars inflows received last month.
He called the reduction in inflation to a single digit as a big story, hoping that inflation would further come down when the September data is released.
He described the situation with Current Account as very encouraging and noted the surplus of $75 million achieved in August. He hoped that with softer oil prices, a softer dollar and an aggressive rate cut which had already been reduced by 450bps, the current account situation would continue to be in a good position.
The Minister also spoke about the rejection by the government of all bids for treasury bills on Wednesday, saying the move was aimed at conveying the message that the government was under no desperation to borrow, and if it were to borrow, it would borrow at its own terms.
He urged the banking system to focus on lending to the private sector. He said the 450bps cut in policy rate and the resultant ease in borrowing would help the government reduce its single largest expenditure of debt servicing, and create room for the banking sector to step up and lend aggressively to the private sector.
Senator Muhamamd Aurangzeb also referred to the IMF Board meeting scheduled on 25th, saying that with the prayers of the nation and efforts made by the Prime Minister in association with bilateral partners, our local teams, administration and all our institutions, we would hear a good news on 25th and move on from there.
He noted that macroeconomic stability was not an end itself but a means to an end. He called it the basic hygiene and the building blocks that provide foundation to the whole edifice. We would move in the right direction on the basis of this approach, and ensure gradual stability in the micro sectors as well, he added.
Later, during the meeting, the ECC considered a summary from the Ministry of Industries and Production regarding the export of 40,000 metric tons of sugar to Tajikistan. In principle, the ECC approved the proposal; however, it directed that after further discussions with the Tajik entity, the final form of the sale agreement be brought back to the ECC for approval. Additionally, the Ministry of Industries and Production, in conjunction with the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP), will lead this process.
The ECC also reviewed and approved another proposal from the Ministry of Industries and Production regarding the further export of 0.100 million metric tons of surplus sugar. The meeting was told that the price of sugar as per PBS data had shown a downward trend since July while sufficient stocks of sugar were available to meet domestic requirements up to January next year. After detailed discussions and deliberations, the ECC approved the export in line with the terms and conditions already decided by the ECC in its meeting on 13 June 2024.
In another agenda item, the ECC also reviewed a proposal from the Ministry of Interior concerning the release of funds through a Technical Supplementary Grant for Project Implementation Letters of HQ Frontier Corps (FC), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (South). The ECC gave approval for the funds amounting to Rs. 456.600 million, and it will be released as Grant-in-Aid to the Interior Division for onward disbursement to HQ FC (South) in D.I. Khan for construction of eight women facilities in tribal districts.