Inflation rate expected to come down to 5 percent in 2020: spokesperson
During first half of FY2019-20, government non tax revenue collection has hit Rs878bn
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance on Sunday said that the confidence of the investors in Pakistan is increasing and with respect to most of the macroeconomic indicators including inflation rate which is expected to come down to around 5 percent in the medium term.
According to a statement issued on Sunday, the finance ministry spokesman said that with regard to inflation outlook, IMF has lowered Inflation projection for FY 2019-20 to 11.8 percent, down from 13 percent earlier on account of this fact that the administrative and energy tariff adjustments are expected to offset the effects from weak domestic demand, thereafter, inflation is expected to converge to 5-7%.
The spokesman further said however, the Pakistan government would do much better than IMF projection, as inflation during July-November was 10.8 percent and with measures taken the target of inflation would be brought down to 5 percent over the medium term.
With regard to the external sector, significant improvement has been witnessed. Overall, Current Account Deficit (CAD) has shrunk by almost two-thirds (74 percent) in the Q1 FY 20 compared to the same period of FY 2019.
The spokesman added that during first half of FY2019-20, government non tax revenue collection has hit Rs878 billion which was 75 percent of full year budgeted collection of Rs1.16 trillion which is positive for growth and will ease the burden on public and businesses.
He said exchange rate is stable for five months, rupee appreciated by 3.2 percent (Rs/$ 160.1 to 154.89), Stock Exchange 100-Index up 20.1 percent since first July, 2019 (33,996) to 40,832, SBP FX reserves increased to $ 10.8bn, from 7.2bn, ease of doing index up by 28 points (108/190) and World Bank rank Pakistan in top 10 improvers.
