Pak PM Shehbaz Sharif to form committee over country's sliding exports: Report

Islamabad [Pakistan], January 5 (ANI): Amid a slump in the country's exports due to the shrinking economy, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has formed a committee for which he has sought recommendations, ARY News reported citing sources on Thursday.
The committee is headed by Commerce Minister Naveed Qamar within 14 days.
The committee's members include the governor, the secretaries of commerce and finance as well as the State Bank of Pakistan.
From July to December this fiscal year, exports declined by 5.79 per cent, while in December exports dropped by 16.64 per cent yearly. The exports dropped by 3.64 per cent in the month of December, according to ARY news.
Pakistan's exports decreased by 3.07 per cent in October compared to September, according to earlier reports from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). Pakistan's exports dropped by 3.83 per cent in September in comparison to August 2022 while imports dropped by 13.21 per cent, PBS stated.
The PBS, in its report, stated that the exports in October decreased by 3.07 per cent to USD 2.37 million as compared to September (USD 2.44 million).
Pakistan citizens are left to bear the brunt of rulers' failed policies that resulted in historic inflation, jacked up petroleum prices, and devalued rupee, as well as warnings of impending bankruptcy among other things.
Since the change of government in Islamabad earlier this year, the SBP's foreign exchange reserves have been falling and the few inflows over this period have proved to be too little to meet heavy payments.
In April, when the Shehbaz-led PDM government replaced the Imran Khan-led PTI government, the reserves stood at USD 10.5 bn as compared to USD 5.8 bn on Dec 23, reported Dawn.
The fear of default is also evident from the exchange rate instability which has eroded the value of the local currency against all the major currencies, particularly the USD. (ANI)