PM hopes donors will show confidence in economy

Gilani addresses US delegation led by Senior Adviser to the US President David Lipton.

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani has expressed hope that donor countries will follow the US government in showing confidence in the Pakistani economic system as his government had put in place third party verification and beneficiary assessment, besides public disclosure of programme performance to increase donor and public trust in the utilisation of foreign assistance.

Addressing a US delegation led by Senior Adviser to the US President David Lipton at the Prime Minister House on Thursday, the Prime Minister said his government was committed to introducing and implementing economic reforms, giving examples of the introduction of Reformed General Sales Tax and the flood tax.

According to Gilani, political dialogue has been initiated over national challenges like governance, institution building and security situation of the country. He underlined that despite Pakistan’s current economic difficulties, his government will remain steadfast in its commitment to the war against terror.

He highlighted the positive trend in the national economy as a result of steps being taken by his government, which include substantial increase in exports, a record of home remittances and all-time high foreign exchange reserves, which he believes are reflective of the sound economic fundamentals of the country.

Gilani said that while the government was implementing the IMF programme in the interest of the country, US influence would be crucial for the disbursement of the next IMF tranche in March to help in preparation for next fiscal year’s budget.

David Lipton commended the Prime Minister for clearly communicating to the rest of the world that his government was not undertaking the reforms because of pressure from the donor community but was doing it in the long-term interest of Pakistan’s economy.

He appreciated that Pakistan in true democratic traditions was doing its utmost to take all the political stakeholders in the country on board, while assuring the prime minister that US will remain committed to confronting the two major challenges to Pakistan’s economy — the budget and the power deficits.

Gilani further explained that flood victims cannot be forced to wait for their early rehabilitation. He explained that the government had already drastically cut its development and non-development expenditure to divert the resources for providing them relief.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 28^th,  2011.