Exports Must Be Prioritised Over Remittances for Sustainable Economic Growth, Says Saif ur Rehman

LAHORE, November 1 (3D Media): Coordinator to the Federal Tax Ombudsman, Saif ur Rehman, said on Sunday that increasing exports was essential to improving Pakistan’s economic productivity and achieving sustainable long-term growth.

Addressing a seminar on the “Pakistan Export Initiative” here, he said exports exposed domestic businesses to international competition, improved management practices, global quality standards, international supply chains and modern technologies, thereby strengthening the productive capacity of the national economy.

He said both exports and workers’ remittances played an important role in supporting the economy and helping contain the current account deficit. However, their contributions to economic growth differed significantly.

Saif ur Rehman explained that exports were directly linked to agricultural, industrial and services-sector output, all of which generated employment and economic activity. Export-led employment also stimulated domestic consumption through household spending, creating additional indirect benefits across the economy.

He said that while both exports and remittances helped bridge the external financing gap, exports contributed to economic growth through both direct and indirect channels, whereas the impact of remittances on growth was largely indirect.

He stressed that sustained export growth should be a national priority, as it would generate employment opportunities, improve productivity and reduce the pressure on unemployed people to seek jobs abroad, sometimes risking their lives in the process.

He said Pakistan needed to give exports greater priority in economic policymaking than remittances because exports contributed much more directly to productive capacity, employment and long-term economic development.

Saif ur Rehman observed that if prudent economic policies had been implemented in the past to avoid recurring economic crises, the contribution of exports to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) could have increased much faster.

He emphasised that a consistent export-oriented economic strategy was essential for strengthening productivity, expanding employment and securing sustainable economic growth.