Rs 1100 billion development budget approved for FY24: Ahsan Iqbal
Federal Minister for Planning (UrduLight.com) Development and Special Measures Ahsan Iqbal said on Friday that the government has approved Rs. A development budget of Rs 1,100 billion for the next financial year aimed at achieving the desired goals of economic development.
Addressing a news conference in Islamabad, he said that out of the total budget, Rs 200,000 will be used under the Public Sector Development Program (PSDP 2023-24) amounting to Rs 950 billion. 150 billion rupees for implementation of various development schemes under public private partnership.
Initially, he said, the finance ministry had proposed Rs. 700 billion for PSDP 2023-24 which was grossly inadequate. He said that we had written a request to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to increase the amount of development budget to achieve economic growth and the Prime Minister has approved 20 billion rupees. 1100 billion development budget.
GDP target set at 3.5% for FY24
Giving details of the targets set by the Annual Plan Coordination Committee (APCC) for the next financial year, he said that a growth target of 3.5 percent has been set for the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
He said that according to the next year’s annual development plan, the inflation rate will be reduced from 29.2% to 21%, the national savings will be increased from 12.5% to 13.4%, exports will be more than 30 billion dollars. will be taken. This year is estimated at $28 billion, while imports for next year are estimated at $58.7 billion and the trade deficit, currently at 1.1 percent, will be reduced to -1.7 percent.
Later, the Chief Economist briefed the participants on the economic performance achieved during FY23 and the growth projections for FY24. He said that during FY23, only modest economic growth was recorded due to high inflation, unfavorable external environment, floods, and import compression measures. He highlighted the significant improvement in fiscal and current account balances, which he termed as a positive sign for the revival of growth during FY24.
The Chief Economist presented an economic outlook for FY24, which would result in a sustainable balance between economic growth, and current and financial account balances. However, he also cautioned that the global slowdown, rising interest rates in developed countries, and rising commodity prices could hamper the country’s economic plans.
