New forum to revive economy, spur investment

The government has set up a new body to frame economic policies that “ensure policy predictability, continuity and effective implementation to revive the economy”, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Wednesday as he stressed the need for “creative ideas” to solve economic problems. The new forum, the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), will serve as a top decision-making body to push through fundamental reforms in the economy’s structure, the premier tweeted. It would focus on “leveraging key sectors such as IT, agriculture, energy, minerals and mining, and defence production”, he said.Later in the day, PM Shehbaz arrived in Paris to attend an international conference for a new global financial pact. A key goal of the SIFC, he said, was to attract investment from friendly countries. “The immediate task is to increase FDI (foreign direct investment) to $5 billion,” he said. His statement came a day after central bank data showed that the FDI in July-May dropped 21 per cent over the past year to $1.32bn. The prime minister said the need for a representative forum like the SIFC had long been felt because of the scale of economic challenges caused by internal and external factors.