ISLAMABAD: National Economic Council (NEC) Wednesday approved the annual targets for the upcoming fiscal year 2022-23 including the economic growth target set at 5%, along with the commitment to make efforts to raise it to 6 percent. The NEC, presided over by Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, also approved various sectors’ growth targets for the new fiscal year including agriculture 3.9%, industries 5.9% and services 5.1 percent. The Council also approved the Macro-Economic Framework for Annual Plan 2022-23. The proposed allocation of Rs. 800 billion for Public Sector Development Plan (PSDP) for the next fiscal was also approved by the Council. The Council unanimously decided that 60% of the development budget would be spent on the ongoing projects, while the remaining 40% would be spent on the new development schemes. The NEC, which was presented with a review of development budget 2021-22, was told that only Rs. 550 billion out of the total allocated amount of Rs. 900 billion in the PSDP 2021-22 could be spent during the outgoing fiscal due to less economic and development activities caused by coronavirus pandemic. The Prime Minister said that since the forum of NEC reflected national unity, its basic objective was to boost national harmony for strengthening the federation through coordinated efforts. He said that NEC should keep in view the inequality and it was the joint responsibility of the center and provinces to play their role for balanced regional development.The Prime Minister said that owing to the past imprudent policy measures, the country was facing such a situation where the internal and external challenges have put the economic stability in danger.
