Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal has said the government will continue to pursue reforms that strengthen economic resilience, expand employment opportunities and improve public services.

Presenting the Monthly Development Update in Islamabad today, he said the government is strengthening market surveillance to curb excessive wholesale-retail margins and prevent profiteering.

Ahsan Iqbal said monthly inflation eased to 10.3 percent last month from 11.1 percent in August.

He said rigorous scrutiny of development projects had generated savings of seven billion rupees last month, taking cumulative savings to 14.5 billion rupees during the first quarter. He said the Planning Commission will continue to eliminate unnecessary costs, improve project design and ensure that public funds deliver maximum value.

The Minister said merchandise exports increased by 7.7 percent to 8.5 billion dollars during July-September, compared with 7.9 billion dollars in the corresponding period last year.

He stressed that Pakistan must develop an export-oriented culture across the country by identifying competitive products in every province and district.