Pakistan was not at the risk of any default, Ayesha Ghaus Pasha, the state finance minister said as the International Monetary Fund’s executive board was scheduled to meet next week to discuss the release of a $1.17 billion tranche for the country.

“Thankfully we are out of deep waters but we have to keep a close watch and move forward,” she said while addressing an event on ‘Economic Security of Pakistan: Challenges & Way Forward’ at the Institute of Strategic Studies in Islamabad.

Ayesha, who has been part of all major press conferences on the economy, was the chief guest at the event.

Earlier this month Pakistan met the last requirement of the IMF for the combined seventh and eighth review of the $6 billion loan, with an increase in its petroleum development levy on July 31.

“We are out of the situation of an economic default but we have to sustain it so that Pakistan does not end up being in this quagmire once again. We have to get our act together now,” she reiterated.

Economic experts have stressed the need for political stability in Pakistan in order to steer the country out of the economic crisis. They have maintained that inflows from the global lender and friendly countries would lessen the pressure on the rupee, however, political stability was a must.

Ayesha was of the view that numerous factors were negatively impacting Pakistan’s economic progress, internal as well as external. She called for economic security.

Some of the measures have led the country in the “right direction” like the gaining of strength in the rupee against the dollar and reduction in the import bill. But, the government was still facing challenges in form of lagging exports, debt trap, loan repayment and international ranking.

The minister called for incorporating vulnerable and marginalized segments of the population in order to ensure the nation’s security. She lamented that Pakistan lacked sustainable improvement, as the path was volatile. “A sustained path to human security is what is required and the economic mechanism is important in today’s world,” she said.

“We need to do a lot and structurally reform the economy,” she said, adding that tax compliance needed to be increased and the culture of tax payment needed to be promoted. Policymakers also needed to think and recalibrate their approach for effective tax collection.

The federal government withdrew a fixed tax regime on electricity bills for one year on the traders’ community demand on August 4. The community was in protest against the levy since July 1 as they claimed that the criteria for taxes were not justified.

Federal Finance Minister Miftah Ismail had admitted the “mistake” in press conferences amid the country’s effort to meet IMF’s target to increase taxes.

“We have had enough of elite capture. We have enough of thinking about our own self-interests and the interest of our constituencies. We need to think not our share in the pie but the size of the pie,” Ayesha said.