Q. How much are you ready to bend to accommodate the business community that control resources the country needs to perk investment?
A. The business community is not demanding anything that can be considered unreasonable. They want an atmosphere where they are not harassed by government agencies and wish to see the right tax policies in place. The job of the government is to create an enabling environment.
Unfortunately the opposite has been taking place in the past where government policies and departments have made life difficult for investors.
Subsidies were incorrectly directed towards certain business groups that thrived at the expense of genuine entrepreneurship. We are ending this culture of crony capitalism and reforming our financial institutions.
Q. CPEC lost steam in 2018. Are you hopeful that the implementation will pick-up pace in the year ahead?
A. No budgetary allocation for any CPEC project has been altered. We are more engaged with China today than we ever were in the past. We will build on this relationship and enhance cooperation so there is no chance of delay in any implementation. Moving on from infrastructure, the next phase of CPEC is trade and industry. This will help create jobs and aid in technology and skills transfer for our businesses and people.
Q. PTI supporters expect drastic changes in the economic policy framework. Can you please list some steps the ruling party is contemplating?
A. The Pakistani people are acutely aware of the dire crises in which the previous government left the economy. So the first step was to rescue the economy, reduce the current account deficit that had soared to $19bn and fill the financing gap. We have made good progress on all these counts.
Our economic policy will be driven by domestic resource generation and export, an investment and productivity growth model and not on imported debt capital and consumption fuelled growth.
We will restore the focus on agriculture and SMEs as they are the most relevant yet most ignored sectors of our economy. We will not shy away from taking bold steps to enhance ease of doing business in the country and in promoting wealth creation.
For example, we have already separated the policy wing from the FBR so that tax policies are not used purely for revenue generation. The people will also notice that government policy will no longer be used for personal gains or crony capitalism.
Q. Do you intend to reverse the trend of financial devolution that has increased the share of provinces at the cost of the federal government?
A. Devolution is actually a great concept provided it is accompanied with great responsibility. We will work with the provinces to harmonise policies, build capacity and encourage and incentivise them to take fiscal responsibility for balancing their budgets.
Q. The goodwill for the ruling party amongst overseas Pakistanis could not be capitalised in the initial phase. Is there a plan to facilitate their greater engagement in building ‘Naya Pakistan’?
A. Overseas Pakistani’s have always been supportive of change in Pakistan. We will use their ideas and expertise and invite them to invest and create enterprises in Pakistan. Already we have seen a huge rise in remittances since our government took over. We will also be launching a ‘diaspora bond’ for the overseas people this month and are creating an attractive investment package for them.
Q. Should people expect better social service delivery and equal economic opportunities under your rule?
A. The Riasat of Madina was a welfare state. That is the ideal we strive for. Everything we do, all our struggles, have always been and will always be for this purpose.
We have already launched the Rs18bn Poverty Graduation Programme that seeks to transfer assets other than cash to the poor. Similarly, an extension in the ‘Sehat Ka Insaaf’ card into other provinces has been initiated. Shelter homes have been set-up across the country and many other programmes that aim to directly address social service and empowerment of the poor have already been launched.
Q. Reportedly renewal of work visas is becoming difficult in Saudi Arabia and most GCC countries. What strategies have been developed to accommodate them with respect to jobs?
A. Our foreign office is in touch with all countries where Pakistani’s are employed. Each country has its own economic and political conditions and priorities that we cannot dictate but our embassies have been directed to extend all support to our citizens and their visa issues.
Q. In terms of dollars (sent illegally abroad), how much has your government brought back from abroad so far? What amount do you expect to bring back by the end of this fiscal year?
A. We have collected a huge amount of data within the first 100 days of this government in terms of bank account details and information on properties held by Pakistani’s in dozens of countries worldwide. We will shortly initiate investigations and prosecutions based on this data as per law.
An Assets Recovery Unit has been created and is directly reporting to the prime minister and a special cell in the FBR has been created.
Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, December 31st, 2018