ISLAMABAD   -  Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Wednesday that the Pakistan Economy Dashboard (PED) would help promote transparency, ensure data accessibility, and serve as an interactive platform for data analysis.

“Data is the new oil. The point is what you do with that data,” the minister remarked while addressing the launching ceremony of the Pakistan Economy Dashboard the minister here. Initially, it can’t just be raw data that would need to be transformed through data analytics, for this purpose there is need to create an interactive platform like PED. He said this platform offers transparency to stakeholders across various sectors, including the finance ministry, other ministries, academia, research institutions, media organisations, and journalists.

He said there would no longer be a need to visit libraries or dig through books. PED provides unbiased facts, whether we like them or not, regardless of whoever they belong to. The fact base is now at your fingertips. He invited collaboration from academia, research organizations, and think tanks to do analysis and give suggestions in this regard. He highlighted that the analysis may be constructive criticism, around fiscal reforms, tax policy, public expenditure or macroeconomic stability. Talking about the utilization of technology, the minister said that wherever technology was utilized, remarkable results were achieved, citing example of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) where successes were made vertically automation. However, Digital Pakistan hasn’t progressed as expected because it lacks horizontal integration, with data remaining fragmented and unconnected.

To establish a strong national identity required integrating all aspects with a centralized national identity platform. The number of new filers and total filers is increasing, but the data has always been there; we just haven’t connected the dots. This is exactly what we’re addressing by establishing horizontal integration.  On the economic side, the minister said that as the government had reached a strong position, and it was now vital to build on this momentum in terms of bringing permanence to macroeconomic stability. It also made it clear that the government was in no desperation to borrow and if it needed, it would do it on its own terms.  He said the decision would encourage the banking sector to lend to the private sector, which has to lead the country.

The government is there to provide policy framework and policy continuity, it is the private sector which has to lead the country, he added. For the business community, KIBOR (Karachi Interbank Offered Rate) serves as the benchmark for borrowing, rather than the policy rate, he added. We must leverage our macroeconomic stability to drive forward structural reforms, which have long been the backbone of our country’s development. This is a vital moment for the country, and we seize the opportunity to drive structural reforms.  By enhancing the tax-to-GDP ratio, implementing energy sector reforms, reforming state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and advancing privatization, we can achieve sustainable growth and stability, he remarked.