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Pakistan Shifts Focus from Aid to Trade, Eyes GCC Investments: Finance Minister
Finance Minister Aurangzeb says Pakistan is moving from aid reliance to trade- and investment-led growth, with GCC countries playing a key role in partnerships and FDI.
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by Muhammad Hashir
2025-12-15
Pakistan Shifts Focus from Aid to Trade, Eyes GCC Investments: Finance Minister

Pakistan is strategically shifting its economic focus from aid dependency to trade- and investment-led engagement, particularly with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, said Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb in an interview with CNN Business Arabia.

Aurangzeb highlighted the vision of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, noting that Pakistan’s renewed economic confidence and reform momentum have produced tangible results over the past 18 months. He said inflation has been brought down from a historic 38% to single-digit levels, while fiscal and current account indicators show marked improvement.

The finance minister pointed to key achievements, including primary fiscal surpluses, stabilised exchange rates, and foreign exchange reserves now covering approximately 2.5 months of imports. He also noted Pakistan’s external validations, with all three international credit rating agencies upgrading the country’s ratings this year, and the successful completion of the IMF Extended Fund Facility’s second review.

Aurangzeb emphasised that macroeconomic stabilisation has been driven by a coordinated approach combining disciplined fiscal and monetary policies with structural reforms. Areas of focus include taxation, energy, state-owned enterprises, public financial management, and privatisation. He also highlighted progress in tax collection, which rose to 10.3% of GDP last year, with a target of 11%.

The finance minister underscored reforms to widen the tax base by including previously undertaxed sectors like real estate, agriculture, and trade, while reducing leakages through AI-enabled production monitoring and improved tax administration. Governance reforms in the power sector aim to reduce circular debt, rationalise tariffs, and make energy more competitive to spur industrial growth.

Aurangzeb also lauded longstanding support from GCC countries, including Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Qatar, noting their pivotal role in financing and cooperation with international financial institutions. He stressed that Pakistan’s engagement with GCC partners is evolving toward trade expansion and investment flows. Remittances, particularly from GCC countries, reached about $38 billion last year and are projected to rise to $41–42 billion this year.

Pakistan is actively courting investments in priority sectors such as energy, oil and gas, minerals, AI, digital infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, and agriculture. Aurangzeb stated that Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations with GCC countries are at an advanced stage.

“Pakistan’s future lies in fostering trade and investment partnerships rather than reliance on aid,” he said, stressing the role of foreign direct investment in boosting GDP growth, creating jobs, and generating mutual economic benefits.

Aurangzeb concluded that the government is fully mobilised to turn this vision into reality, reflecting Pakistan’s commitment to sustainable and strategic economic growth.
Tagged:

PakistanEconomy

GCCPartnership

TradeNotAid

FDI
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