Pakistan: Govt eyes 6pc export-led growth
Wire desk byline Sourced from Xinhua, Dawn, Arab News, Anadolu and Minute Mirror. Translated and abridged by the GSRRA Desk.
The government was pursuing a robust strategy for diversification of exportable products and market portfolios to achieve sustainable economic growth of at least six per cent and avoid a repeat of another ‘boom and bust cycle’, said Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal on Thursday.
Speaking at the launch of the Monthly Development Outlook (MDO) for July, the minister said expanding exports through new products and destinations was critical to securing long-term economic independence.
He reported that ministries and divisions reported a total actual expenditure of Rs916.02bn in 2025-26, which was almost 20pc higher than the Rs820.5bn revised allocation for the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) due to diversion of over Rs125bn towards fuel subsidies following the US-Iran war. However, even the actual PSDP expenditure at Rs916bn was around 15pc lower than last year’s Rs1.077tr.
The minister said the excess utilisation was due to increased rupee-cover expenditure on foreign-funded projects, especially through third-party payments in the infrastructure, health & nutrition, and governance projects. Moreover, the Government of Sindh’s counterpart share for railways also contributed to increased expenditures.
Planning minister targets $100bn exports by 2035; PSDP spending up on fuel subsidies in FY26
The MDO showed that the infrastructure sector spent Rs608.5bn in FY26 against a revised allocation of Rs514bn, indicating a utilisation rate of 118.4pc. In the energy sub-sector, Rs183bn was spent against Rs105bn, showing a utilisation rate of 174pc. The social sector consumed Rs69.1bn in FY26, achieving 99.8pc of the Rs69.2bn allocation.
The minister said the government was working closely with industry and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to transform the country’s top 20 export clusters into globally competitive sectors while promoting non-traditional industries, including engineering, light engineering, chemicals, and advanced manufacturing.
“Our destination is not only stabilisation but sustainable growth of at least 6pc. That growth has to be export-led; otherwise it will become another economic bubble that bursts within a few years,” he said.
Mr Iqbal said the government had set a target of increasing Pakistan’s exports to $100bn by 2035, adding that the existing export structure was inadequate to achieve this objective. “We have to diversify both our product portfolio and our export markets. Pakistan is still exporting many of the same products to the same destinations as it did 40 years ago. This model is no longer sufficient for a competitive global economy,” he remarked.
The minister said the government, in collaboration with the SBP and the private sector, was offering incentives to promote non-traditional export sectors, including engineering, light engineering, chemicals and advanced manufacturing, to broaden the country’s export base.
Reference Link:- https://www.dawn.com/news/2019589
Zamir Ahmed Awan is the founder and Chair of the Global Silk Route Research Alliance, a think tank in Islamabad. He studied engineering at Shanghai University in the 1980s, and years later he went back to China as Pakistan's science counsellor in Beijing, from 2010 until 2016, working on science and higher education cooperation between the two countries.…
That’s a sensible approach – focusing on diversifying exports is key to long-term stability, especially given the volatility we’ve seen in recent years.
Thank you. Pakistan posses such potential and can achieve with a bit of efforts conveniently.