Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has said he is “quite hopeful” that Pakistan could manage to achieve GDP growth of close to 3.5 per cent during the ongoing fiscal year despite the impact of recent floods.

The finance czar shared this projection during an interview on CGTN America programme ‘One on One’, which was published on Tuesday. During the interview, the finance minister was asked how big a challenge the recent floods posed to economic recovery.

To that, Aurangzeb began his reply by underlining that climate change was an “existential issue for Pakistan”.

“We are living it day in and day out,” he said.

He then went on to recall previous floods and their impact, and stated: “We grew at 3pc GDP last year. We had estimated that we would grow a little over 4pc this year, but now, given the flood situation, this will shave off a certain percentage around that. But, I am still quite hopeful that we can manage anything close to 3.5pc during this fiscal year.”

At the outset of the interview, the finance minister was asked about the efforts to restore Pakistan’s economy and the main challenges being faced on that front.

To that, Aurangzeb said Pakistan had “consolidated gains on the macroeconomic stability front. […] Inflation continues to be a good story, which is now in single digits. [The] policy rate has been halved. And as a result of that, what we have seen........

© Dawn Business