- Ishaq Dar said it is a historic occasion as the Chinese consortium will bring their expertise to PSX
Pakistan has a great potential and we will make this country ‘a great economy” in the world by 2030 with the help of local and foreign investors, said Finance Minister Ishaq Dar at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) here on Friday.
Addressing the signing ceremony of 40 percent share purchase agreement of the PSX, Shanghai Consortium of China and other companies at PSX building, Karachi, he said the country’s economic indicators had been improved in last three years and now international companies and big giants are looking towards this country for the investment.
Ishaq Dar said, “Inclusion of Pakistan among emerging economies of the world is a great achievement for the country.”
He said Pakistan’s government is providing every possible help to the local business communities interested in enhancing their businesses in Pakistan. He said during last few years our revenue growth has swelled to 20 percent in 2015-16 compared to from 4 percent previous government and surpassed the annual target for the first time since 2009-10, which can be attributed to the effective tax measures.
He said the additional support came from ongoing China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) related projects which created demand for construction and allied industries. Fiscal consolidation remained on track as the budget deficit for 2015-16 (as a percentage of GDP) continued to fall for the fourth consecutive year.
Dar said, “high growth in tax revenues and a stringent control over current expenditures, the budget deficit for 2015-16 declined to 4.6 percent of the GDP from 5.3 percent in the previous year.”
“I have two dreams for this country, one is to bring Pakistan into stable economies of the world, and 2nd doing business with the entire world,” finance minister said. My one dream is almost completed as we have become a stable economy of the world as big companies of the world are ready to invest here while the second dream is now fulfilled as Chinese consortium has signed with PSX and will bring their expertise to equity market.
He said the stock exchange has acquired the status of one of the fastest growing stock exchanges in the region. The international organisations have acknowledged the economic progress in Pakistan, he added.
Ishaq Dar said Pakistan Stock Exchange has already crossed 50,000 points for the first time in the country’s history, which is a historic achievement. He said the current foreign exchange reserves of the country are equivalent to five-month imports bill.
Ishaq Dar invited the opposition parties to join hands with the government for strengthening the economy.
He said the privatisation policies of the government are opening up new avenues for economic prosperity and are providing the much needed funding for infrastructure projects and other needs of the economy.
He further claimed that more than 10,000MW electricity would be included in the local grid stations in March 2018 and there would be no load-shedding in the country, which would be a big achievement of this government. He further claimed that more projects of 14000-15000 MW Terbella-5, Chashma-4 and others are in the pipeline and Pakistan would have total 45000MW electricity by 2020.
He further informed that he had signed an agreement with Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in September 2016 and it will become activate in 2018. More than 40 countries are in OECD countries. International exchange of all these countries will be active in 2018.
Speaking on the occasion, Chinese Ambassador Sun Weidong congratulated Pakistani investors on the agreement and hoped this usher a new era of stock exchange business in Pakistan.
He said the share purchase agreement is an important accord with the PSX and it will mark a new step in the development of Pak-China relationship. He further assured that our companies will introduce new products in the PSX to support the local and foreign investors.
Earlier, Securities Chairman Arif Habib, SECP Chairman Zafarul Haq and others spoke on the occasion.
