Economic Advisory Council: Govt is aiming for 5% GDP growth, says Dar

Says revenue collection, fiscal deficit, inflation have improved remarkably since 2013

ISLAMABAD: After having achieved economic stabilisation, the government is now focused on inclusive economic growth and aims to achieve GDP growth of over 5% in FY2015-16, said Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, while chairing the 7th Economic Advisory Council (EAC) meeting.

“Most macroeconomic indicators have shown remarkable improvement during the last two and a half years including GDP growth, revenue collection, fiscal deficit and inflation,” said Dar, while asking the EAC members to guide the government for further improvement in economic management.

The finance secretary gave a detailed presentation and briefed the committee on the debt situation.



“The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is on track to achieve the revenue target of Rs3.1 billion set for 2015-16,” said FBR Chairman Nisar Muhammad Khan, adding that the government would continue the policy of eliminating concessionary SROs in the next budget.

Also present on the occasion, Dr Ishrat Husain spoke on the economic developments and emphasised the need for strengthening the tax administration and removing the contact between taxpayer and tax collector.

Highlighting the importance of federal and provincial fiscal coordination, he suggested the government to look into setting up a long term infrastructure financing fund. 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 31^st,  2016.

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