{"id":302432,"date":"2025-12-07T02:04:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T02:04:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/302432\/"},"modified":"2025-12-07T02:04:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T02:04:11","slug":"finmin-says-pakistan-has-rebuilt-fiscal-buffers-eyes-sustainable-growth-at-doha-forum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/302432\/","title":{"rendered":"FinMin says Pakistan has rebuilt fiscal buffers, eyes sustainable growth at Doha Forum"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pakistan is ’embarking on right path of reform and resilience’, with post-IMF overhaul easing pressures: Aurangzeb<\/p>\n

Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb speaks at the session \u201cGlobal Trade Tensions: Economic Impact and Policy Responses in MENA\u201d at the Doha Forum on Saturday. Photo: X <\/p>\n

Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb projected a confident message of economic stabilisation and forward-looking reform at the Doha Forum, telling a high-level panel that Pakistan has \u201crebuilt fiscal buffers, restored external balance and is now shifting decisively from stabilisation to sustainable growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking at the session ‘Global Trade Tensions: Economic Impact and Policy Responses in MENA’, on Saturday the minister said, Pakistan is ’embarking on the right path of reform and resilience’, crediting the post\u2013IMF programme overhaul for easing pressures at a time when global trade disruptions, tariff shifts, and geo-economic rivalry are reshaping economies across the Middle East and North Africa.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis period of uncertainty demands adaptability,\u201d Aurangzeb said, noting Pakistan’s prudent engagement with the US on tariff measures, securing a relatively favourable 19 per cent tariff on key textile exports, and accelerating diversification of both markets and products, most notably fast-rising IT services exports expected to touch $4 billion this year.<\/p>\n

Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb participated today in a high-level panel during the 23rd Doha Forum.<\/p>\n

Invited by the Doha Forum, the Ministry of Finance of the State of Qatar, and the IMF, the Minister joined global leaders to discuss \u201cGlobal\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/atEySZWhcs<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Ministry of Finance, Government of Pakistan (@Financegovpk) December 6, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Qatar\u2019s Minister of Finance Ali Bin Ahmed Al Kuwari termed Pakistan a ‘brother country’ and confirmed that the GCC\u2013Pakistan Free Trade Agreement, the first such FTA concluded by the Gulf bloc in years, would usher in a new phase of regional trade flows.<\/p>\n

Calling the FTA ‘a major strategic milestone’, he said the agreement would deepen Pakistan\u2013Gulf cooperation in energy, agriculture, textiles, and increasingly, advanced technologies.<\/p>\n

Al Kuwari highlighted Pakistan\u2019s rising talent pool in AI and digital sectors, saying Qatar was keen on collaborating in artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, and skill development.<\/p>\n

IMF Deputy Managing Director Bo Li commended Pakistan for making ‘significant strides’ in fiscal discipline and resilience-building. He reiterated the Fund\u2019s commitment through the $1.3 billion Resilience and Sustainability Facility, which supports green budgeting, climate-risk assessments, and financing for climate-resilient infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Read: PM Shehbaz praises Punjab development projects, says PML-N set for ‘historic results’ in next polls<\/a><\/p>\n

Aurangzeb warned, however, that climate change posed a more immediate existential threat than geopolitics, pointing out that this year\u2019s floods alone shaved 0.5 per cent off Pakistan\u2019s GDP.<\/p>\n

He also flagged Pakistan\u2019s ‘third-largest global freelancer base’, saying the next digital leap, from basic coding to AI and blockchain, could push earnings up from $10\u201312 per hour to $60\u2013250 for specialised skills.<\/p>\n

Later in the day, Aurangzeb and Al Kuwari held a meeting where both sides committed to operationalising opportunities created by the FTA and deepening LNG, trade, and technology cooperation.<\/p>\n

The two ministers agreed to create structured mechanisms for collaboration in AI capability development, climate resilience, and investment facilitation.<\/p>\n

On a separate panel, discussing the evolving US\u2013China relationship, Hina Rabbani Khar, Chairperson of the National Assembly\u2019s Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, warned that the selective use of economic and human rights sanctions was fragmenting the global system.<\/p>\n

The discussion examined how countries, especially across the Global South, are balancing ties with both Washington and Beijing amid rising rivalry, and whether the emerging landscape is drifting towards fragmentation or a more pluralistic order.<\/p>\n