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ISLAMABAD: New International Monetary Fund (IMF) Mission Chief to Pakistan, Harald Finger, Monday said that he was impressed by the economic headway Pakistan had achieved in the past months under the present government and hoped that things would further improve in next three years.
He said this during a meeting with Finance Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar here. He was accompanied by IMF Director Masood Ahmed and Resident Representative of IMF to Pakistan Tokhir Mirzoev.
Harald said improvement in the economy was a joint effort of the team led by Finance Minister Dar and it was to be seen how Pakistan economy would perform in future.
Masood Ahmed said Pakistan's economy presented a totally different picture to what it was 18 months ago.
There was comparative economic stability and this could serve as a good foundation to further build up the economy in future, truly turning Pakistan into an emerging economy, he added.
He emphasized to focus on broadening the tax base, improving investment regime and enhancing competitiveness of the economy.
Dar welcomed the visiting delegation acknowledging the financing of US $ 6.64 billion from the IMF to support Pakistan under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) approved by the IMF Board on September 4, 2013.
The minister said Pakistan had met all the structural benchmarks and quantitative performance criteria set for the sixth review.
He apprised the delegation about the problems that the present government had inherited in the form of energy shortages, a weakened economy and scourge of extremism.
Dilating on the energy issue first, he said new power projects had been undertaken and 4000 MW was already ensured to be added to national grid.
Further, the Chinese side had also undertaken to set up power plants on government-to-government basis which could produce up to 10,000 MW of electricity.
Regarding elimination of terrorism, the minister said Pakistan had incurred over 100 billion dollars in economic losses and suffered 50,000 casualties (including 5000 military personnel) in the long drawn war on terror.
The government had pursued the path of dialogue to resolve the issue of militancy but finally had to resort to full-fledged military action, he added.
He said the operation Zarb-e- Azb was launched with a vigour which had yielded results as high profile targets had been eliminated.
He said,"We have shared the details with the donors at the three conferences held over the past few months aimed at drawing up plans for rehabilitation of the TDPs as well as flood affectees."
Regarding economic profile of the country, the minister said due care had been extended to social protection measures and added he was proud to have pioneered the income support programme back in 2008 which was ultimately adopted by the government of the day as a social safety programme.
He said the present government under Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had already enhanced the number of recipients under income support programme to 4.8 million and aimed to achieve target of 5 million beneficiaries by of June 30, this year.
He said that in order to facilitate individual tax payers, the government had declared the National ID card no as the National Tax Number.
The minister said the government had shifted all the benefit of decrease in oil prices to the consumers and against all forecasts, did not enhance the prices for the month of March and instead made adjustments in the GST to keep the prices level.
The decision was hailed by the people at large, he added.
Dar said health of economy could be gauged from the fact that Pakistan had already crossed the US $16 billion forex reserve mark and qualified as IBRD client.
He also mentioned about the visit of US Commerce Secretary for participation in the Pak-US Business Opportunities Conference, which he said would facilitate fruitful interaction between businessmen of both countries.
The minister also mentioned Pakistan's exit from the FATF's grey list to white list which manifested Pakistan's concerted efforts for curbing anti-terror financing and money laundering.
On medium term economic targets, he said,"We wish to achieve 20 billion dollar forex reserve target and endeavour to keep the inflation rate to single digit." It was as low as 3.2% in February 2015.
"As for the investment to GDP ratio, ideally we wish it could climb to 22%," he added.
The minister said the government had taken concrete steps aimed at enhancing ease of doing business and these would in turn enhance Pakistan's standing as a good economic, investment market among countries of the region.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the minister wished the visiting IMF team a pleasant stay in Pakistan and hoped for continued cooperation. - APP
IMF appreciates Pakistan's economic performance
He said this during a meeting with Finance Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar here. He was accompanied by IMF Director Masood Ahmed and Resident Representative of IMF to Pakistan Tokhir Mirzoev.
Harald said improvement in the economy was a joint effort of the team led by Finance Minister Dar and it was to be seen how Pakistan economy would perform in future.
Masood Ahmed said Pakistan's economy presented a totally different picture to what it was 18 months ago.
There was comparative economic stability and this could serve as a good foundation to further build up the economy in future, truly turning Pakistan into an emerging economy, he added.
He emphasized to focus on broadening the tax base, improving investment regime and enhancing competitiveness of the economy.
Dar welcomed the visiting delegation acknowledging the financing of US $ 6.64 billion from the IMF to support Pakistan under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) approved by the IMF Board on September 4, 2013.
The minister said Pakistan had met all the structural benchmarks and quantitative performance criteria set for the sixth review.
He apprised the delegation about the problems that the present government had inherited in the form of energy shortages, a weakened economy and scourge of extremism.
Dilating on the energy issue first, he said new power projects had been undertaken and 4000 MW was already ensured to be added to national grid.
Further, the Chinese side had also undertaken to set up power plants on government-to-government basis which could produce up to 10,000 MW of electricity.
Regarding elimination of terrorism, the minister said Pakistan had incurred over 100 billion dollars in economic losses and suffered 50,000 casualties (including 5000 military personnel) in the long drawn war on terror.
The government had pursued the path of dialogue to resolve the issue of militancy but finally had to resort to full-fledged military action, he added.
He said the operation Zarb-e- Azb was launched with a vigour which had yielded results as high profile targets had been eliminated.
He said,"We have shared the details with the donors at the three conferences held over the past few months aimed at drawing up plans for rehabilitation of the TDPs as well as flood affectees."
Regarding economic profile of the country, the minister said due care had been extended to social protection measures and added he was proud to have pioneered the income support programme back in 2008 which was ultimately adopted by the government of the day as a social safety programme.
He said the present government under Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had already enhanced the number of recipients under income support programme to 4.8 million and aimed to achieve target of 5 million beneficiaries by of June 30, this year.
He said that in order to facilitate individual tax payers, the government had declared the National ID card no as the National Tax Number.
The minister said the government had shifted all the benefit of decrease in oil prices to the consumers and against all forecasts, did not enhance the prices for the month of March and instead made adjustments in the GST to keep the prices level.
The decision was hailed by the people at large, he added.
Dar said health of economy could be gauged from the fact that Pakistan had already crossed the US $16 billion forex reserve mark and qualified as IBRD client.
He also mentioned about the visit of US Commerce Secretary for participation in the Pak-US Business Opportunities Conference, which he said would facilitate fruitful interaction between businessmen of both countries.
The minister also mentioned Pakistan's exit from the FATF's grey list to white list which manifested Pakistan's concerted efforts for curbing anti-terror financing and money laundering.
On medium term economic targets, he said,"We wish to achieve 20 billion dollar forex reserve target and endeavour to keep the inflation rate to single digit." It was as low as 3.2% in February 2015.
"As for the investment to GDP ratio, ideally we wish it could climb to 22%," he added.
The minister said the government had taken concrete steps aimed at enhancing ease of doing business and these would in turn enhance Pakistan's standing as a good economic, investment market among countries of the region.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the minister wished the visiting IMF team a pleasant stay in Pakistan and hoped for continued cooperation. - APP
IMF appreciates Pakistan's economic performance
