Islamabad: The government of Pakistan is committed to ongoing economic reforms aimed at fostering resilience, expanding employment, and enhancing public services, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal announced. In his presentation of the Monthly Development Update, Iqbal emphasized efforts to strengthen market surveillance to curb profiteering and reduce excessive margins between wholesale and retail prices.

According to Radio Pakistan, Iqbal reported a drop in monthly inflation to 10.3 percent in September, down from 11.1 percent in August. The Minister highlighted that through rigorous scrutiny of development projects, savings of seven billion rupees were achieved last month, bringing total savings to 14.5 billion rupees for the first quarter. The Planning Commission aims to continue eliminating unnecessary costs while improving project design to maximize public funds’ value.

Additionally, merchandise exports saw a 7.7 percent increase, reaching 8.5 billion dollars during the July-September period, compared to 7.9 billion dollars in the same timeframe the previous year. Iqbal underscored the importance of cultivating an export-oriented culture by identifying competitive products across various provinces and districts to bolster the country’s economic standing.