ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has made achievements and failures on different fronts during the past 3.5 years while continuing its journey to complete the tenure.
The incumbent government led by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) under the leadership of PM Imran Khan witnessed many achievements on the economic front that are given below:
Steps to improve capital market
The PTI government launched the landmark Roshan Digital Account to provide an opportunity for overseas Pakistanis to make direct investments and to facilitate their remittances to Pakistan through legal channels. After its launch in September 2021, the volume of investment reached $3.6 billion in the first six months.
The government launched tax concessions in Capital Gains Tax (CGT) for the filers. The CGT rate was reduced from 15% to 12.5% for filers.
Corporate sector investment in national savings schemes has been restricted which diverted the investments to various other sectors and industries. The PTI government also introduced a method of circuit breakers (CBs) in the stock market in 2020.
Circuit breakers (CBs) have been made more effective to protect small investors in the capital market, increasing the rate from 5% to 7.5%. The primary aim of introducing CBs is temporarily suspending the shares’ trading in the stock market in case of any unusual fluctuations besides giving time to the investors for reviewing their decisions. With an interval of 30 minutes, the shares can be traded again after scrutinising the information about shares. During the coronavirus pandemic, the CBs protected the small investors.
The PTI government has set up four Exchange of Trading Funds during its tenure, giving more opportunities to the investors.
During the PTI regime, more reforms were made in the licenses of securities brokerages. In this regard, the regulation for the issuance of licenses has been relaxed. Three categories were launched in it which eliminated the monopoly of self-proclaimed brokers who were investing in the stock market by raising capital directly from the people and leading to bankruptcy. In this way, the investor’s account will now be opened in CDC and investment will be made more secure.
The PTI government has taken significant steps to curb money laundering to meet the objectives of the Financial Action Task Force. The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has timely achieved the FATF targets. Benami shareholders and beneficiaries were eliminated from the country. The mechanism for registration of relief institutions at the federal, provincial and district levels has been improved across the country.
The PTI government laid the base of improvements in the stock market. Economic fundamentals were strengthened to improve the stock market. This allows the record trade of more than Rs2 billion in a day.
Improvements in energy sector
Special measures were taken by the PTI government to reduce circular debt in the energy sector. To reduce the circular debt, the federal government audited the liabilities of private power plants worth Rs225 billion. After the audit of 40% of the liabilities of private power plants was confirmed and the dues of Rs130 billion were paid in November 2020. The payment of dues created funds for the energy sector and improved the circulation of money in the energy sector besides reducing the debt volume.
The PTI government reviewed its policy of purchasing power from private power plants from 1994 to 2002 and decided that the obligations for the production capacity of private power plants would be less than 11%. It was also decided that the equity rate on their capital would be 17% and the government would fix it at the dollar rate of Rs145 and pay as much as per its consumption.
Rs800 billion savings in energy sector
The PTI government has reviewed the concessions given to private power plants from 1990 to 2013. Meanwhile, it was decided that the federal government would no longer abide by the power purchase agreement given the existing capacity and capacity of private power plants. Thus, in the next 30 years, the government would be exempted from paying Rs800 billion in terms of capital city payments.
Successful production of coal power plants under CPEC
The PTI government achieved the target of electricity production from four coal-fired power plants under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project. 1320 MW Sahiwal Coal Power Project, 1320 MW Port Qasim Coal Power Project, 1320 MW Hub Coal Power Project and 660 MW Thar Engro Coal Power Projects are now generating power and the work on five more power projects is also in full swing.
The PTI government suspended gas supplies to small gas-fired power plants connected to industries for four months. The decision provided gas directly to industries, whereas, it also reduced the production cost of the industries after the provision of gas supply at a discounted rate from 25% to 50%. The move expedited industrial development besides increasing employment opportunities and benefited small factories.
The PTI government paid attention to bringing fundamental reforms in the energy sector which was earlier neglected by the past regimes. The decision reduced the financial losses to the energy sector besides saving the state resources and expediting the growth rate of circular debt in the energy sector.
PM Imran Khan promised the Karachi citizens zero loadshedding during Ramadan month and after 13 years, the people of Karachi witnessed the month of Ramadan without load shedding under the rulership of PTI.