New economic body to 'ensure' policy predictability, PM says

• PM Shehbaz says always advocated for unified approach to deal with economic crisis. 
• He says forum to focus on key sectors such as IT, agriculture, others.
• PM says attracting investment from friendly countries is a key goal. 

As the country continues to grapple with the economic crisis, the federal government has decided to set up a body to ensure policy predictability and effective implementation to revive the economy, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Wednesday.

"Employing a whole-of-the-the-government approach, the coalition government has decided to set up a Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) with a mandate to frame economic policies that ensure policy predictability, continuity & effective implementation to revive the economy," PM Shehbaz Sharif wrote in an extensive tweet.

Despite the government's all-out efforts to keep the country afloat, the economic crunch prolongs for over a year with no progress on the revival of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme to secure external financing.

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir Tuesday assured Pakistan Army’s all-out support to complement the government’s efforts to deal with the economic challenges facing the country.

Following the development, PM Shehbaz said that the decision to form the economic body had been taken in light of a "unified approach" to steer the country out of the economic storm that he had been advocating.

"By virtue of its composition, the SIFC will serve as a top decision-making forum to push through fundamental reforms in the structure of the economy.

"To begin with, the forum will focus on leveraging key sectors such as IT, agriculture, energy, minerals and mining, and defence production," the premier said.

He explained that one of the key goals of the SIFC was attracting investment from friendly countries, with the immediate task of boosting the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to $5 billion.

PM Shehbaz went on to say that the scale of economic challenges owing to internal and external factors demanded a representative forum like the SIFC.

"The textbook approach to deal with a unique set of problems is not workable anymore. Hence all the more reason to leverage collective wisdom to kick-start the economy to make it self-reliant, export-driven, and robust, capable of withstanding external shocks and upheavals," he said, adding that creative ideas offered the solution to our economic problems. 

The COAS, while speaking at a high-level meeting chaired by PM Shehbaz a day earlier, assured the army’s all-out support to complement the government’s efforts for 'Economic Revival Plan'. 

The huddle unveiled an elaborated ‘Economic Revival Plan’ in the wake of economic hardships being confronted by the country, an official statement issued by the PM Office said.

PM Shehbaz recalled that his government inherited an economy that was on the brink of collapse. With bold and difficult decisions, it is now being steered towards growth and development, he said.