Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said five or six state entities could be sold off this fiscal year.
Pakistan’s economy is expected to grow by more than 4% this fiscal year despite high global oil prices, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has said.
He made the remarks to Reuters on Monday on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Bangkok. “So I’m still quite clear that we should clock north of 4 percent,” he said.
Aurangzeb said Pakistan had secured enough fuel to avoid shortages and that key sectors such as agriculture were holding up. The government is also keeping a close watch on inflation because of its effect on commodity prices, he added.
The outlook comes days after Pakistan reached a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund on October 7. Once approved by the IMF’s Executive Board, the deal will release about $1.21 billion. Around $1 billion of that comes under the fourth review of the $7 billion Extended Fund Facility, and about $210 million under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility.
Pakistan Privatization Plans Could Raise Over $1 Billion
Around a dozen state-owned entities are in the privatization pipeline, Aurangzeb said, including power distribution companies and the outsourcing of airport operations.
“I expect about five or six of these to go through during this fiscal year,” he said. Those deals could bring in more than $1 billion.
The plan follows the sale of Pakistan International Airlines, which was completed last year. “We are quite clear that we want the private sector to lead the country,” Aurangzeb said.
He also confirmed that talks with the United States on a proposed $10 billion exchange stabilization facility are continuing, though he did not give a timeline. “If it comes through, this will be a great help for us,” he said. Separate discussions are under way with the US Export-Import Bank and the US International Development Finance Corporation.
Pakistan’s Latest Economic Figures
The IMF estimates Pakistan’s growth for the last fiscal year at 3.6%. The economy grew 4% in the first three quarters of that year before higher energy prices slowed momentum.
Inflation eased to 10.3% in September, down from 11.1% in August, data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics shows.
Remittances remain strong. Overseas Pakistanis sent home about $3.6 billion in September, up 12.7% from a year earlier, the State Bank of Pakistan reported. Total inflows for the first quarter of the fiscal year reached about $10.87 billion, a 14% increase. Saudi Arabia was the largest source in September at $899 million, followed by the UAE at $748.5 million.
The central bank’s foreign exchange reserves stood at about $21.45 billion in the week ending October 2. Total liquid reserves, including those held by commercial banks, were around $26.8 billion.
Pakistan continues to rely on external financing to support its reserves and meet debt repayments, with Gulf countries remaining a major source of energy imports, remittances and financial support.
