ISLAMABAD: Advisor to the Prime Minister on Commerce and Industry Abdul Razak Dawood has said the government had introduced pro-export policies and eradicated all the hurdles imposed by the past regimes.
While addressing the Post Budget press briefing along with Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Razak Dawood said in the last decade until 2018, the past governments had introduced anti-export policies and imposed more duties on export goods and their raw materials.
He said the government would soon bring new e-commerce policy for modernizing the businesses to promote e-commerce in the country.
The advisor informed that exports in Information Technology (IT) during the COVID-19 pandemic were not affected as compared to other sectors however, it witnessed further increase during the period.
The pandemic has brought a change in the world and has badly affected the economy, he added. Razadk Dawood underscored that the situation was also an opportunity to reshape the business models.
Addressing the post-budget press conference today, Abdul Hafeez Shaikh said that the budget 2020-21 was made keeping in mind the coronavirus situation in the country.
He said, “The government also had a series of firsts, such as no borrowing from the State Bank of Pakistan, decreased imports and an increase in foreign investment of nearly 137 percent in the country.”
“No supplementary grant was given to any department, and current account deficit was reduced from $20 billion to $3 billion,” he added.
The Adviser said that the world institutions including the IMF, World Bank, and Asian Development Bank are appreciative of the financial discipline shown by the present government.
However, he said that coronavirus has affected the country’s economy badly. “We have suffered a loss of Rs 700 billion in revenue due to the coronavirus outbreak,” Hafeez said. He also said, “The estimated loss to the GDP due to the coronavirus is Rs 3 trillion.”
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