ISLAMABAD    -     Minis­ter for Planning, Develop­ment and Special Initia­tives Ahsan Iqbal Thursday said that the continuity of policies was imperative for sustainable growth of the country. Addressing the launching ceremony of one year growth strategy for Pakistan organized by Pakistan Institute of Devel­opment Economics (PIDE) here, the minister high­lighted the key elements to turnaround the country’s economy. He said the gov­ernment had devised ex­cellent policies but could not be implemented due to political instability and fre­quent interventions in the policies. “We need political will, stability, continuity of policies, and broad-based consensus to ensure the sustainable growth and development,” he added. He stressed all stakehold­ers and the political parties to get united and play role in chalking out a charter of economy and prepare strong economic policies for the economic develop­ment of Pakistan. He said PIDE could play key role in drafting strong policies for robust economic growth. Ahsan Iqbal said the coun­try’s remittances were showing good growth but still there was potential to further promote the remit­tances by ensuring the in­flows through white chan­nels. He said debt servicing was one of the most chal­lenging issue for the gov­ernment followed by the government owned institu­tions were running on huge losses. The government, he said had to bear huge subsidy of over 40 percent of the total expenditures of Pakistan International Air­lines (PIA) and same was the case with many other SOEs. Likewise, he said cir­cular debt in power sector was also another big chal­lenge as in some areas of the country, 60 to 70 per­cent consumers did not pay the electricity bills and the cost had to be borne by the government and the other consumers. Iqbal said ex­port led growth was key to success and development and the government was taking measures to boost the country’s exports from current $30 billion up to $100 billion per year.