ISLAMABAD: The federal minister for finance Ishaq Dar said on Wednesday that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has witnessed growth while decline in inflation has also been endorsed by various international financial institutions including the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The finance minister was giving an overview of government’s eight month performance in economic sector at a news conference in Islamabad on Wednesday.
Dar said that the present government has turned around the economy and all economic indicators are showing positive trends.
The minister said that inflation level remained 8.6 percent while the GDP remained 4.4 percent during the first eight months of the current fiscal year.
The finance minister said that tax collection has witnessed a growth of 17.7 percent. He said that we have collected Rs1,348 billion in the first eight months as compared to Rs1,145 billion collected in the corresponding period last year.
In addition, he said that budget deficit has been reduced to 3.1 percent as compared to 4.1 percent last year.
Ishaq Dar said that home remittances have also seen an upward trend with growth of eleven percent. He said that home remittances of $10.24 billion have been received by February 28 as compared to $9.23 billion received during the corresponding period last year.
Dar said that the exports surged to $16. 86 billion in the first eight months as compared to $15.8 billion last year.
