ISLAMABAD
\nFederal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal on Thursday said the government was pursuing robust diversification of Pakistan\u2019s product and market portfolios to achieve sustainable economic growth of at least six per cent.
\nHe stressed that expanding exports through new products and destinations was critical to securing long-term economic independence. Addressing a media briefing on the Monthly Development Report, the minister said the government was working closely with industry and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to transform the country\u2019s top 20 export clusters into globally competitive sectors while promoting non-traditional industries, including engineering, light engineering, chemicals and advanced manufacturing.
\n\u201cOur destination is not only stabilisation but sustainable growth of at least six per cent. That growth has to be export-led; otherwise it will become another economic bubble that bursts within a few years,\u201d Ahsan said. He said the government had set a target of increasing Pakistan\u2019s exports to $100 billion by 2035, adding that the existing export structure was inadequate to achieve this objective.
\n\u201cWe have to diversify both our product portfolio and our export markets. Pakistan is still exporting many of the same products to the same destinations as it did 40 years ago. This model is no longer sufficient for a competitive global economy,\u201d he remarked.
\nThe minister said the government, in collaboration with the SBP and the private sector, was offering incentives to promote non-traditional export sectors, including engineering, light engineering, chemicals and advanced manufacturing, to broaden the country\u2019s export base.
\nHe said the strategy also aimed to transform Pakistan\u2019s top 20 export clusters into globally competitive industries capable of generating higher-value exports and strengthening the external sector.
\nAhsan acknowledged that merchandise exports during the last fiscal year were affected by disruptions in regional shipping routes, higher insurance costs and logistical challenges arising from the Iran-US conflict. However, exports of goods and services still recorded overall growth despite these external shocks.
\nHe said workers\u2019 remittances reached a record $41.6 billion, up 8.6 per cent over the previous year, helping maintain external sector stability despite geopolitical uncertainties in the Gulf region.
\nHighlighting the broader economic performance, the minister said Pakistan achieved GDP growth of 3.7 per cent during the last fiscal year despite severe floods and regional disruptions, adding that the economy could have expanded beyond four per cent in the absence of those external shocks. Agriculture grew by 2.9 per cent, services by 4.1 per cent and industry by 3.5 per cent.
\nThe government also prioritised development spending, while cost rationalisation measures under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) generated savings of Rs12.62 billion, improving resource utilisation.
\nDuring the year, the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) held 21 meetings, approving 192 development projects and recommending 96 schemes to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC). The approved portfolio is expected to generate about 289,153 direct and 424,052 indirect jobs.
\nThe Ministry of Planning also strengthened project monitoring, expanded international development partnerships, finalised the Annual Plan 2026-27 and secured the National Economic Council\u2019s approval of a Rs3,675 billion national development outlay, while reaffirming its commitment to advancing reforms for resilient, inclusive and sustainable economic growth.
\nHe said prudent economic management had also earned international recognition, with Standard & Poor\u2019s upgrading Pakistan\u2019s sovereign credit rating from B- to B, following earlier upgrades by Moody\u2019s and Fitch.
\n\u201cThis international endorsement reflects growing confidence in Pakistan\u2019s economic direction under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif\u2019s leadership. We should project these successes confidently to strengthen investor confidence,\u201d he said.
\nAhsan said the government remained committed to maintaining macroeconomic stability through responsible fiscal management and market-based policies, noting that difficult decisions, including petroleum price adjustments linked to international oil prices, were necessary to protect the economy.
\nThe Ministry of Planning, he said, was simultaneously pursuing structural reforms, including a new governance model for Islamabad and higher education reforms to align university curricula with the demands of the Fourth and Fifth Industrial Revolutions and the emerging artificial intelligence-driven economy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal on Thursday said the government was pursuing robust diversification of Pakistan\u2019s product and market portfolios to achieve sustainable economic growth of at least six per cent. He stressed that expanding exports through new products and destinations was critical to securing long-term economic independence. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":71633,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101055"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":101062,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101055\/revisions\/101062"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}