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Glimmers of hope for Pakistan’s economic recovery: CEN

August 16, 2020

BEIJING, Aug. 16 (INP ): Pakistan is successfully moving ahead for economic recovery, after suffering from severe COVID-19 pandemic and the locust outbreak this year, says a report published by China Economic Net (CEN). Now it seems that the government and people of Pakistan, with wisdom and courage, are finally overcoming the natural disasters. Glimmers of hope are emerging for the economic recovery now, the report stated quoting it's special commentator Prof. Cheng Xizhong. Moody’s, an international rating agency, confirmed Pakistan’s credit rating at B3 with a stable outlook and observed that Pakistan’s economy is improving. Prof. Cheng quoted Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz as having said that the worst period of Pakistan's economy has passed and the good days are coming. Due to the sagacious policies of the Pakistani government, the current account deficit has been brought down from $20 billion to $3 billion. Foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank of Pakistan have risen to $12.5 billion; exports are improving; foreign remittances are increasing and the stock market is seeing a boost. Despite an adverse impact of COVID-19 and locusts, Pakistan’s economic wheel has started rolling and all indicators are showing an upward trend. Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan has been significantly curbed, which has created conditions for economic recovery. This is thanks to the strategy of "smart lockdown" launched by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and a series of Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs) for pandemic prevention and control formulated by relevant government departments. Prof. Cheng hoped that the country's economy would embark on the track of fast development. Not long ago, when the federal government of Pakistan set the revenue target of Rs. 4.963 trillion for the fiscal year 2020-2021, there were some concerns about whether this target could be achieved. Now it seems that as long as Pakistan continues to carry out precise measures, COVID-19 will be basically under effective control and Pakistan's economy will be on the way of full recovery by the end of September. INP/javed