Haroon Akhtar Predicts Fuel, Power, Loan Rate Cuts In Budget

According to Haroon Akhtar Khan, the special adviser to the Prime Minister on Industries & Production, the forthcoming federal budget would significantly relieve the burden on the public and industrial sector. This includes expected decreases in “loan rates, energy tariffs, and gasoline costs”.

Haroon Akhtar said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif wants to increase the nation’s economic growth rate to “7%” and maintain it for the next ten years. “The prime minister is totally focused on economic issues and believes that boosting exports is the key to economic expansion.”

The special assistant noted that specialist committees had been established to handle different economic issues and highlighted continuous federal efforts to help stabilize the economy. He said that the prime minister closely tracks the progress made after delegating tasks to address economic problems.

2nd Tranche

He said that PM Sharif is committed to giving investors comfort and safety, underscoring the government’s dedication to fostering investment trust.

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As part of pre-budget measures to boost business, Haroon Akhtar said that the government has recently lowered borrowing rates and power tariffs for industrial users. The public is directly benefiting from the drop in global gasoline costs, he continued.

According to sources in the Ministry Pakistan has already received the 2nd tranche of the current loan program from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The sources claim that as part of the existing arrangement, the IMF has given the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) “$1 billion”. On the 16th of May the central bank’s foreign exchange reserves will be adjusted for the sudden increase.

The payment comes after the loan tranche was approved by the IMF Executive Board on the 9th of May which was a crucial milestone in Pakistan’s attempts to normalize its economy and strengthen its outer and fiscal buffers.

“The authorities were able to withdraw approximately $1 billion after the IMF Executive Board concluded its initial review under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) Arrangement,” the IMF stated in a statement.