Pakistan successfully shook off negative effect of COVID on economy: Minister

Islamabad, Jun 10 (PTI) Pakistan Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin on Thursday said the cash-strapped economy has shaken off the damaging impact of the coronavirus pandemic, citing official figures that nearly 2 crore people had returned to work in the last year.

Unveiling the Pakistan Economic Survey 2020-21 at a press conference here, he said the government had set 2.1 per cent GDP growth for 2020-21, while the International Monetary Fund had predicted even lower.

"(But) we recorded a provisional growth rate of 3.94 per cent in the first 9 months of the fiscal year," he said.

"The COVID-driven survey revealed that when COIVD-19 started, the working population was 5.57 crore and this figure dropped to 3.5 crore meaning nearly 2 crore people were laid off,” he said.

“Due to the prudent policies of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the working population has been restored to 5.3 crore people meaning that gap of only 25 lakh people remains,” he added.

He credited the Pakistani diaspora abroad for large foreign remittances, contributing to the growth rate. PTI SH IND AKJ IND