ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Federal Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar has said that Pakistan has achieved macroeconomic stability within three years, and now the government is targeting Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of over 5 percent in the current fiscal year.
In a meeting in Islamabad on Thursday with senior executives representing the multinational consortium which is developing the first private sector Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) supply project in Pakistan, the minister said that the government of Pakistan welcomes and appreciates the efforts of the consortium to develop this project.
Ishaq Dar said that the participation of leading multinational energy companies in this project is yet another demonstration of the international investors’ confidence in Pakistan’s economic turnaround and the investor-friendly policies of the present government.
The finance minister highlighted the most recent report published by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) according to which Pakistan is projected to become the 20th largest economy by 2030 and the 16th largest economy by 2050.
The federal minister said that Pakistan has achieved macroeconomic stability within three years, contrary to predictions from various quarters that Pakistan would default on its obligations by 2014 and would need six years to attain macroeconomic stability.
Ishaq Dar said that Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves recently reached an all-time high providing five months of import cover, and that GDP growth was 4.7 percent in Fiscal Year 2016, an eight year high.
The finance minister said that the government is actively working on projects to add over 10,000 MW of electricity to the system in the short term, and a further 15,000 MW beyond 2018.
Dar highlighted that the government is now focused on achieving higher, sustainable and inclusive economic growth, and is targeting GDP growth of over 5 percent in the current fiscal year.
The consortium comprises of leading multinational energy companies including Qatar Petroleum, ExxonMobil, Total, Mitsubishi Corp, and Hoegh LNG.
Under the project, the LNG Terminal will have a capacity of 1,000 mmfcd per day, and it will re-gasify up to 750 mmfcd gas per day as base-load. The project is expected to be completed in 2018. The project, after completion, will account for around 10 percent of the primary energy supplies of the country, and will be equivalent of 20 percent of the current domestic natural gas production.
The Federal Minister for Water & Power, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, and Chairman Board of Investment (BOI) Dr. Miftah Ismail, Chairman and CEO of Global Energy Infrastructure Limited (GEIL), and senior officials of concerned ministries also participated in the meeting.
