KARACHI: Federal Minister for Finance Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb has said that investor participation in Pakistan’s economic growth has more than doubled over the past two and a half years.
Addressing a ceremony at the Pakistan Stock Exchange, the finance minister said fiscal stability was a fundamental requirement for economic growth. He stressed the need to make macroeconomic stability sustainable and eliminate the country’s boom-and-bust economic cycle.
Aurangzeb said Rs60 billion had so far been disbursed under the government’s Apna Ghar Programme, while the banking industry had approved Rs340 billion for the initiative.
He said the issue was no longer the availability of credit, as the banking sector had taken the initiative and the supply side now needed to respond.
He said Arif Habib and the Association of Builders and Developers (ABAD) had a role to play in this regard, while real estate investment trusts (REITs) would serve as a bridge in the process.
The finance minister recalled that he had first visited the Pakistan Stock Exchange on March 29, 2024, when the benchmark KSE-100 Index stood at around 67,000 points.
He said the index had since reached around 170,000 points, adding that the factors driving the index were important.
He said the highest number of initial public offerings (IPOs) in the past 20 years were recorded last year, with 11 IPOs taking place. Investor participation, he added, had more than doubled over the past two and a half years, while Gen Z and millennials accounted for 85 percent of participation in the stock market over the last 12 months.
Aurangzeb said Turkish investors had shown interest for the first time in the privatisation of power distribution companies. Addressing concerns regarding foreign direct investment, he said such processes required time.
He noted that Pakistan’s economy had contracted three years ago, stressing that the government’s responsibility was to provide the private sector with a conducive business environment, while the private sector had to take the lead in economic activity.
“Is this the government’s job? This is absolutely the government’s job, and we will continue doing it,” the finance minister said.
Aurangzeb reiterated that the government’s immediate priority was to make macroeconomic stability sustainable and eliminate the boom-and-bust cycle.
He said Pakistan needed to focus on sustainable growth rather than growth driven by liquidity injections, as reviving the economy after a downturn was extremely difficult.
The finance minister said any shortfall in the tax collection target quickly became a headline, but achieving the tax target should also receive attention.
He said Pakistan now needed to move towards “Economy 2.0,” adding that the new economy was not limited to cryptocurrency and had broader implications.
He said Pakistan could take a leading role in the global services sector.
Aurangzeb added that the government was working to expand the bond market to the retail market. He said the Capital Markets Development Council was preparing its recommendations to present to the prime minister.