Ministers defend NAC decision

Umar says assessment made with consensus; Tarin says Pakistan witnessed growth despite tough IMF programme

ISLAMABAD:

The federal ministers on Saturday strongly defended the National Accounts Committee’s (NAC) decision of announcing a 4% growth rate during the current fiscal year, saying that the assessment was made with consensus.

The NAC on Friday estimated that the provisional growth rate of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) during the current fiscal year (2020-2021) was 3.94%.

Due to a combination of GDP growth and strengthening of the rupee against the dollar, per capita income of Pakistan jumped by 13.4% during the current fiscal year (2020-21) from $1,361 to $1,543. The GDP increase from $263 billion to $296 billion, an increase of $33 billion during the current fiscal year, was the highest ever in any year.

Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar on Saturday lashed out at Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz President Shehbaz Sharif for terming the growth rate “unrealistic”, saying that this was not the PML-N government that the NAC would announce what they wanted.

Shehbaz had also claimed that questions were raised in the NAC meeting which proved that the data was incorrect.

“Questions were raised in the professional and non-political committee, where data was assessed and the decision was made unanimously,” Umar said in his tweet.

He said this was not the government of Shehbaz who used to play at Lahore Gymkhana with an unnatural umpire. “This is the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan who taught the world to play the matches with neutral umpires in international cricket,” he added.

He said it seemed unbelievable for Shehbaz that despite Covid-19, how Pakistan’s economy which was ruined by their government had now stood on its own feet under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Separately on Saturday, Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin said that Pakistan witnessed a strong V-shaped growth despite being in a tough International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.

In a tweet, the minister said that the IMF programme was necessitated by an unsustainable current account deficit and falling foreign currency reserves and a vicious Covid-19.

He expressed gratitude to Premier Imran and his team for achieving this growth. “A strong V growth despite being in a tough IMF programme, which was necessitated by unsustainable current account deficit and falling foreign currency reserves, and a vicious Covid-19.

Well done team Imran Khan; Thumbs up @FinMinistryPak @GovtofPakistan,” he tweeted.

(WITH INPUT FROM APP)