Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday said Pakistan’s economy had stabilised and was poised for sustained, export-led growth, citing improving macroeconomic indicators and wide-ranging structural reforms.

Addressing an event at the Pakistan Pavilion on the sidelines of the 56th Annual Meetings of the World Economic Forum in Davos, the prime minister said difficult but necessary reforms had restored stability and renewed confidence.

Inflation has fallen sharply from 30 per cent to 5.5 per cent, while the policy rate has been reduced from 22.5 per cent to 10.5 per cent, he said.

IT exports, he added, had reached around $3 billion annually through offshore channels.

PM Shehbaz stressed that exports remained central to Pakistan’s economic strategy, with revenue reforms as a key pillar.

He said the tax system was being fully digitised, raising the tax-to-GDP ratio to 10.5 per cent from 9 per cent a few years ago.

Highlighting growth sectors, the prime minister said agricultural exports had performed well and Pakistan was entering the mining and minerals sector.

Agreements have been signed with American and Chinese companies to tap resources in Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

He said Pakistan was also moving rapidly into emerging fields, including information technology, artificial intelligence and crypto, calling the country’s large youth population both a challenge and an opportunity.

The prime minister said federal and provincial governments were jointly implementing vocational and technical training programmes to equip youth with marketable skills.

He cited the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission, noting that its programmes were internationally certified and third-party audited, enabling Pakistani workers to find employment in Gulf countries and beyond.

On foreign relations, PM Shehbaz said Pakistan maintained strong economic ties with China and was expanding cooperation with the United States, particularly in mining, minerals, counterterrorism and technology.

He also pointed to transparent privatisation efforts, including Pakistan International Airlines, and said further privatisation and outsourcing were planned for airports, power distribution companies and transmission lines.

Referring to the IMF programme, the prime minister said Pakistan had met strict conditions in letter and spirit, adding that the Fund was now citing the country as a success story among developing economies.

On structural reforms, he said the government had shut down loss-making state entities, including the Utility Stores Corporation, PASSCO and the Pakistan Public Works Department, saving billions of rupees despite resistance from vested interests.

“We are at a point where Pakistan is about to take off,” the prime minister said, stressing unity, transparency and sustained reforms as essential for long-term growth and prosperity.