Pakistan's future bright despite quake:IMF
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Monday that the death toll of the massive earthquake had touched 41,000 with over 67,000 injured.
Addressing a joint press conference with visiting Director of International Monetary Fund (IMF) Rodrigo de Rato here at the Prime Minister House on Monday evening, the prime minister said that Pakistan in the first phase had concentrated on the rescue and relief of the victims while in the second phase government had planned to rehabilitate, build infrastructure, including schools, hospitals and reconstruction of the quake hit areas.
He thanked the IMF for helping Pakistan in its difficult time in the past and added that Pakistan would continue to seek technical advice from the fund. He added that Pakistan had successfully completed the programmes of IMF especially the last programme of PRGF and migrated from the funds programme.
Shaukat said Pakistan would continue on the path of its reforms agenda which had put the country on the path of economic stability. He added that last year Pakistan had achieved a GDP growth of 8.4 per cent and was eying for around 7 per cent growth this year.
Pakistan, he said, was committed to deregulation, liberalisation and privatisation for more investment in the country. Director IMF Rodrigo de Rato, in his remarks, expressed his profound sympathy with the people and government of Pakistan over the devastation caused by the October 8 earthquake, which resulted in loss of precious lives and destruction of properties and infrastructure across the NWFP and Azad Kashmir.
He appreciated the government’s rapid response to the natural calamity and commended the spontaneous efforts which the citizens of Pakistan have mounted to mitigate the sufferings of the people of the NWFP and Azad Kashmir.
Discussing Pakistan’s economic situation, the IMF managing director said Pakistan had made remarkable economic progress in the past half decade and made good progress on structural reforms and lauded government’s resolve to carry forward the reform process in the future. He appreciated the recent efforts of the government to enhance supplies and tight monetary policy to lower inflation.
He said he met President Musharraf and Prime Minister Aziz, as well as key ministers. "I assured them that IMF stands ready to support Pakistan at this difficult time", he remarked. The IMF director said, "I saw some of the tragic human cost of the disaster. At children’s wing of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad, I was deeply moved to visit children injured by the earthquake and was greatly impressed by the care they are receiving from dedicated medical staff and volunteers".
He added that he also met Abdul Sattar Edhi, the founder of Edhi Foundation, a local charity directly involved in helping earthquake victims. He said this was his first visit to Pakistan as IMF Managing Director. "The visit has provided me with an opportunity to commend the Pakistani authorities on the impressive economic gains they have attained in recent years by persistently following reform policies", he remarked.
The director said, "During my meetings, I recalled how the turnaround in Pakistan’s economy had been made possible by the implementation of market-oriented structural reforms, supported by macro-economic stabilisation".
The IMF supported financially the authorities’ programme through 2004. The success of the programme reflects not only the strength of policies, but also the strong commitment of the Pakistan government to the programme, he added.
Rato said fiscal consolidation and reform, banking system reform, privatization, and trade liberalisation had fundamentally transformed the economic landscape of Pakistan. They have significantly improved private sector confidence, debt indicators, and Pakistan’s ability to compete in the world economy, he remarked .
He said that the fruits of these efforts had been a strong recovery in economic growth. "Pakistan is confronting short-term economic challenges, including the need for emergency support and the need to rebuild the area affected by the earthquake", he added.
The international community was providing welcome assistance, but some temporary widening of the budget deficit might be unavoidable, he said. Meanwhile, the acceleration of economic growth has been accompanied by a pick up in inflation. The authorities’ efforts to reduce the inflationary pressures, and their initial success, were welcome, he added. He said further tightening of monetary policy might, however, be necessary.
Pakistan is also confronted with the sharp increase in international oil prices. The authorities have appropriately allowed a substantial pass-through of this increase into the domestic prices for petroleum products, to help safeguard the budgetary position.
"Over the medium term, the key challenge going forward for Pakistan is to sustain higher rates of economic growth and ensure that living standards are raised and poverty is reduced," he remarked. This, he said, would require substantial increases in investment.
Meeting this challenge requires consistent and sustainable macroeconomic policies and further improvement of the business environment. The strengthening of the delivery of public services to the poor is a particular need. It calls for the continuation of institutional reforms, and for additional domestic resource mobilization to meet higher expenditures in these areas. In this context, he urged the authorities to strengthen tax revenue collections, and to broaden the tax base.
Addressing a joint press conference with visiting Director of International Monetary Fund (IMF) Rodrigo de Rato here at the Prime Minister House on Monday evening, the prime minister said that Pakistan in the first phase had concentrated on the rescue and relief of the victims while in the second phase government had planned to rehabilitate, build infrastructure, including schools, hospitals and reconstruction of the quake hit areas.
He thanked the IMF for helping Pakistan in its difficult time in the past and added that Pakistan would continue to seek technical advice from the fund. He added that Pakistan had successfully completed the programmes of IMF especially the last programme of PRGF and migrated from the funds programme.
Shaukat said Pakistan would continue on the path of its reforms agenda which had put the country on the path of economic stability. He added that last year Pakistan had achieved a GDP growth of 8.4 per cent and was eying for around 7 per cent growth this year.
Pakistan, he said, was committed to deregulation, liberalisation and privatisation for more investment in the country. Director IMF Rodrigo de Rato, in his remarks, expressed his profound sympathy with the people and government of Pakistan over the devastation caused by the October 8 earthquake, which resulted in loss of precious lives and destruction of properties and infrastructure across the NWFP and Azad Kashmir.
He appreciated the government’s rapid response to the natural calamity and commended the spontaneous efforts which the citizens of Pakistan have mounted to mitigate the sufferings of the people of the NWFP and Azad Kashmir.
Discussing Pakistan’s economic situation, the IMF managing director said Pakistan had made remarkable economic progress in the past half decade and made good progress on structural reforms and lauded government’s resolve to carry forward the reform process in the future. He appreciated the recent efforts of the government to enhance supplies and tight monetary policy to lower inflation.
He said he met President Musharraf and Prime Minister Aziz, as well as key ministers. "I assured them that IMF stands ready to support Pakistan at this difficult time", he remarked. The IMF director said, "I saw some of the tragic human cost of the disaster. At children’s wing of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad, I was deeply moved to visit children injured by the earthquake and was greatly impressed by the care they are receiving from dedicated medical staff and volunteers".
He added that he also met Abdul Sattar Edhi, the founder of Edhi Foundation, a local charity directly involved in helping earthquake victims. He said this was his first visit to Pakistan as IMF Managing Director. "The visit has provided me with an opportunity to commend the Pakistani authorities on the impressive economic gains they have attained in recent years by persistently following reform policies", he remarked.
The director said, "During my meetings, I recalled how the turnaround in Pakistan’s economy had been made possible by the implementation of market-oriented structural reforms, supported by macro-economic stabilisation".
The IMF supported financially the authorities’ programme through 2004. The success of the programme reflects not only the strength of policies, but also the strong commitment of the Pakistan government to the programme, he added.
Rato said fiscal consolidation and reform, banking system reform, privatization, and trade liberalisation had fundamentally transformed the economic landscape of Pakistan. They have significantly improved private sector confidence, debt indicators, and Pakistan’s ability to compete in the world economy, he remarked .
He said that the fruits of these efforts had been a strong recovery in economic growth. "Pakistan is confronting short-term economic challenges, including the need for emergency support and the need to rebuild the area affected by the earthquake", he added.
The international community was providing welcome assistance, but some temporary widening of the budget deficit might be unavoidable, he said. Meanwhile, the acceleration of economic growth has been accompanied by a pick up in inflation. The authorities’ efforts to reduce the inflationary pressures, and their initial success, were welcome, he added. He said further tightening of monetary policy might, however, be necessary.
Pakistan is also confronted with the sharp increase in international oil prices. The authorities have appropriately allowed a substantial pass-through of this increase into the domestic prices for petroleum products, to help safeguard the budgetary position.
"Over the medium term, the key challenge going forward for Pakistan is to sustain higher rates of economic growth and ensure that living standards are raised and poverty is reduced," he remarked. This, he said, would require substantial increases in investment.
Meeting this challenge requires consistent and sustainable macroeconomic policies and further improvement of the business environment. The strengthening of the delivery of public services to the poor is a particular need. It calls for the continuation of institutional reforms, and for additional domestic resource mobilization to meet higher expenditures in these areas. In this context, he urged the authorities to strengthen tax revenue collections, and to broaden the tax base.
The News International
posted by zaicha | Wednesday, October 19, 2005
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