ISLAMABAD
\nFederal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb has reaffirmed Pakistan\u2019s strong commitment to macroeconomic stability, structural reforms, and investor facilitation during a meeting with a delegation of German investors and businessmen led by German Ambassador to Pakistan H.E. Ina Lepel.
\nDuring the meeting, the Finance Minister outlined the government\u2019s steady progress in restoring fiscal and external stability, achieving a stable currency and moderating inflation, and securing renewed confidence from international financial institutions and credit rating agencies. He emphasized that Pakistan\u2019s economic strategy now rests on deep structural reforms \u2014 particularly in taxation, energy, privatization, and public finance \u2014 aimed at building a sustainable and competitive economy.
\nHighlighting improving investor sentiment, ongoing privatization efforts, and plans to re-enter international capital markets, Senator Aurangzeb invited the German business community to explore the growing opportunities in Pakistan\u2019s key sectors, especially technology, energy, and manufacturing.
\nWelcoming the delegation, the Finance Minister appreciated the role of the Pakistan-based AHK German Bilateral Chamber of Commerce in bringing together both established and new German investors to explore Pakistan\u2019s evolving business landscape. He briefed the delegation on Pakistan\u2019s recent macroeconomic progress and reform momentum, sharing insights from his recent visit to Washington D.C., where he attended the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings and held extensive discussions with multilateral institutions, global investors, credit rating agencies, and international counterparts.
\nSenator Aurangzeb highlighted that Pakistan continues to consolidate its gains on the macroeconomic stability front. The currency remains stable, foreign exchange reserves currently provide about two and a half months of import cover and are projected to reach three months by the end of the fiscal year. Inflation is expected to remain within the range of 5 to 7 percent for the ongoing fiscal year, supported by a downward trend in the policy rate.
\nHe underscored that Pakistan\u2019s economic progress has been externally validated by three major credit rating agencies including Fitch, S&P, and Moody\u2019s all of which have upgraded the country\u2019s outlook in recent months. The IMF\u2019s staff-level agreement announced last week, following a comprehensive review mission, further reflects international confidence in Pakistan\u2019s policy direction.
\nThe Minister emphasized that Pakistan\u2019s economic stabilization must be accompanied by deep structural reforms in key areas, including taxation, energy, state-owned enterprises, privatization, and public finance. He stated that broadening and deepening the tax base remains a top priority, with the tax-to-GDP ratio targeted to increase from 10.2% to 11% this fiscal year, and up to 13% in the coming years.
\nOn the energy sector, Senator Aurangzeb stressed the government\u2019s commitment to sustainable reform and privatization aimed at reducing losses and improving recoveries. He mentioned that 34 state-owned enterprises have been handed over to the Privatization Commission, with significant progress already achieved, including the recent successful acquisition of a state-owned entity by a UAE conglomerate. The privatization of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is progressing, with four large international conglomerates currently undertaking due diligence.
\nHe further highlighted ongoing reforms in public finance, including restructuring of pensions and rationalization of the federal government\u2019s footprint through closure of some non-performing entities, politically difficult but fiscally essential steps.
\nSenator Aurangzeb also discussed Pakistan\u2019s re-entry into international capital markets, including plans to issue the inaugural Panda Bond in China\u2019s deep capital market and to return to the Eurobond market under the Global Medium-Term Note (GMTN) program in 2026. He emphasized that Pakistan\u2019s improving macroeconomic fundamentals, coupled with positive geopolitical developments and renewed engagement with key partners including Europe, China, the United States, and Gulf countries, are creating a favorable environment for foreign direct investment and business-to-business partnerships.
\nSenator Aurangzeb also responded to various questions from the German delegation, elaborating on the government\u2019s ongoing initiatives to promote IT exports, facilitate the repatriation of profits and dividends by foreign companies, and strengthen investor confidence in Pakistan\u2019s economic trajectory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb has reaffirmed Pakistan\u2019s strong commitment to macroeconomic stability, structural reforms, and investor facilitation during a meeting with a delegation of German investors and businessmen led by German Ambassador to Pakistan H.E. Ina Lepel. During the meeting, the Finance Minister outlined the government\u2019s steady progress in …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":62404,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88558","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\/88558","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=88558"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88558\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88569,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88558\/revisions\/88569"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}