September 21, 2021: Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mehmood Monday said the government stabilized the economy, increased exports, enhanced foreign exchange reserves, and significantly shrank the current account deficit.
Speaking at the Achievement Award ceremony of Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he said that the government had to seek loans from friendly countries and International Monetary Fund (IMF), he added. He said despite the widespread attack of coronavirus the government kept the economy floating and last year achieved economic growth of four percent, took the exports to $ 25.3 billion, foreign remittances went up to $ 30 billion and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) collected revenue of more than Rs 4700 billion.
Textile, construction, and other sectors of the economy were moving forward and the government led by Prime Minister Imran Khan not only successfully managed the coronavirus pandemic but also protected the lives and livelihoods of poor people, Shafqat added. The minister told that the government initiated a program of youth skills development with an amount of Rs 10 billion.
About 50000 youth were being given training in cutting-edge information technology including artificial intelligence, big data, the internet of things, and cyber security. Now youth with prior learning and experience were being given certificates from accreditation institutes, he informed. The government was revamping the accreditation institutes so that they could certify manpower in skills that were required by the industry and businesses, he added.
The minister congratulated the winners of the awards and said the progress of the country was dependent on strong industry and economy.
