• PM-appointed panel calls for measures to improve ease of doing business
• Seeks tariff overhaul to lift exports beyond $60bn in three years
• Highlights cross-cutting barriers across 20 export products
• Notes ‘policy unpredictability’ undermines investor, buyer confidence
ISLAMABAD: A body constituted by the prime minister and led by Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal has called for urgent reforms to improve the ease of doing business and for a serious restructuring and rationalisation of tariffs — both energy prices and trade duties — to more than double exports to over $60 billion within three years.
The committee was formed to devise a strategy for avoiding another IMF programme once the current $8.4bn arrangement expires at the end of 2027, amid mounting pressure from persistently weak economic indicators.
According to synopses compiled after week-long consultations with public and private sector stakeholders from Jan 5 to 9, the panel concluded that the current state of affairs was not capable of driving a fast-growing population of 250 million towards sustained prosperity because of cross-cutting constraints affecting “all 20 priority export products and six export drivers”.
Ironically, most of these constraints are generally well known, but the government’s inability, despite special interventions here and there, including through the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), to create a conducive working environment in a fair, equitable, rule-based and transparent manner, has hampered sustainable growth path beyond stabilisation under a restrictive programme volunteered to the IMF.
The plan proposed easing electricity and gas prices through debt refinancing and rationalising price build-ups. It was found that “export competitiveness is undermined by high and volatile energy costs, with electricity and gas tariffs remaining above regional benchmarks and subject to frequent changes”.
It warned that volatility was inflating production costs across manufacturing, agro-processing, minerals, fisheries, and services, eroding margins and diverting orders to competing countries.
The Planning Commission also pointed out that the cost of doing business in Pakistan remained “structurally high due to fragmented and distortionary taxation, inverted input tariffs, advance income tax deductions, delayed sales tax refunds and persistent working capital lockups”.
It said these issues disproportionately affected exporters and were particularly binding for small and medium enterprises across manufacturing and agri-based value chains.
The panel said that policy unpredictability was also weakening investment and buyer confidence. “Frequent changes in tax policy, energy pricing, tariff structures, export incentives and regulatory regimes, often announced late in the business cycle, constrain forward planning, capacity expansion and scaling, particularly around annual export order booking cycles,” it said.
The synopses also highlighted institutional fragmentation and regulatory burdens. They said inconsistent definitions of SMEs across the State Bank of Pakistan, SMEDA, the Federal Board of Revenue and provincial authorities restricted access to finance, incentives and support schemes. Overlapping mandates, discretionary enforcement, excessive audits and weak inter-agency coordination increased compliance costs and uncertainty, the panel said.
Moreover, exporters also faced weak domestic quality, testing and compliance infrastructure, increasing reliance on overseas laboratories for certification and testing, it said, adding: “This raises costs, lengthens lead times and elevates rejection risks in regulated export markets, constraining movement into higher value products and destinations.”
Limited access to affordable finance was also highlighted as a constraint on upgrading and value addition. The panel said export credit, insurance, guarantees, and long-term financing instruments remained underdeveloped, while high interest rates, collateral requirements, and liquidity constraints curtailed SME investment in technology, compliance, and scaling.
The committee also questioned the implementation of export facilitation and input schemes, including the Export Facilitation Scheme, saying procedural delays, higher input costs and working-capital pressures were limiting effective sourcing of raw materials and intermediate inputs.
In addition, it cited logistics and trade facilitation bottlenecks, including high inland freight costs, underutilised rail, port congestion, slow customs clearance, inadequate cold-chain infrastructure and weak courier and postal systems for SMEs.
It noted that at Port Qasim, the absence of dedicated export terminals, limited handling infrastructure, inadequate covered storage and constrained evacuation arrangements increased dwell time, handling costs and shipment uncertainty. It also pointed to skills gaps, low value addition and weak branding as barriers to moving into higher-value segments.
Based on consultations, the Planning Commission is now collecting additional information through a private-sector survey to refine inputs and develop a data-driven, sector-specific technical roadmap to enhance exports under the Uraan Pakistan strategic plan.
“Pakistan’s development, economic sovereignty and even national security now hinge on one thing: how fast we can grow our exports and move to an export-led growth model,” Mr Iqbal said at the conclusion of the consultations.
He added that “the only way to break free from foreign crutches and avoid the next IMF programme is to rapidly increase our exports and build strong foreign exchange reserves”.
The 20 products covered during these engagements included copper, gems and jewellery, software and IT services, fish and fish preparations, rice, fruits and vegetables, meat and meat preparations, guar gum and its products, handicrafts, textile and apparel, sports goods, leather and leather products, surgical instruments, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, cement, carpets and rugs, engineering goods, footwear, plastic material and cutlery.
Pakistan currently exports about $30-35bn worth of goods, against Planning Commission estimates of an untapped annual potential of over $60bn.
The findings and recommendations will be consolidated into product-wise diagnostics and a targeted facilitation framework for submission to the prime minister. Their implementation would be subject to clearance under the tight requirements of the IMF conditions.
Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2026
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