Pakistan Development forum kicks off

ISLAMABAD: Provincial representatives claim they have overcome differences with regard to the reformed general sales tax (RGST) today (Sunday). Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Sheikh added that attention must be paid to help the poorer segments of society.

This was stated during day one of a two-day meeting of the Pakistan development forum. Delegations from 30 donor countries, consisting of 264 representatives and five major aid lending institutions attended the meeting.

The United States, United Kingdom, and Japan have promised minister-level participation. Chief Ministers of all provinces are also expected to present their development agenda before the donor community.

Updated from print edition below.

Donors disappointed ahead of meeting

Miseries of millions of flood-stricken people may not ease even after a meeting of the Pakistan Development Forum (PDF) because of the government’s seemingly unenthusiastic approach and the donors’ lukewarm response to the United Nations appeal for assistance.

A two-day meeting of the PDF is going to start in Islamabad on Sunday where Pakistan will present its economic reform agenda to hundreds of participants from all over the world.

According to Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, the forum is not a pledging session. For the donors, it is an opportunity to get knowledge of Islamabad’s plan to deal with the aftermath of floods and more importantly the use of their money.

Background interviews with officials of key donor agencies in Islamabad reveal that they are somewhat disappointed with the PDF’s agenda since the donors were expecting that the government would present an outcome-based plan that would highlight sector-specific rehabilitation and reconstruction plans.

“Various aspects of the damage and need assessment report should have been part of the meeting agenda,” said an official of a European country’s embassy. The official said that so far the government has not provided a copy of the assessment report that discusses sector-wise damages and reconstruction requirements.

In late July through mid-August, the floods submerged ten per cent of Pakistan and affected 20 million people. A joint report of the World Bank and Asian Development Bank put damages caused by the floods at $10.07 billion and said that Pakistan needs over $6 billion for reconstruction.

“An overview of the agenda shows that the government is going to talk about what it has already been telling the donors,” said an official of a key lending agency.

According to the agenda, on November 14 the four provincial governments will give presentations but the topics have not been mentioned. Only the presentation by the National Disaster Management Authority chairman on relief, early recovery and disaster reduction may shed some light on the floods.

National Database and Registration Authority Chairman Ali Arshad Hakeem will give a presentation on Watan Cards to address donor concerns about the misuse of their money.

The second day of the conference will focus on fiscal expenditure management, monetary policy, inflation, the economic growth model, power sector reforms and a few words on aid effectiveness by Hina Rabbani Khar, the Minister of State for Finance and Economic Affairs.

On the other hand, the response of donors to the disaster and rehabilitation has also not been encouraging at all. The United Nations had appealed for $2 billion for early relief and rescue, but official documents show that so far the international community has pledged $1.8 billion, of which 74 per cent has not been honoured.

Donors are defending themselves by saying that they suspect misuse of their taxpayers’ money due to corruption in Pakistan.

Out of the total pledges, $739.4 million or around 40 per cent are in cash but disbursement has been only $287.5 million, which is just 15.4 per cent of the pledges. The donors also committed $631.2 million worth of goods but released items worth only $202 million.

Despite a considerable lapse of time, the status of $490 million worth of pledges is not clear as to whether these pledges are in the form of goods or cash, said the documents. The finance minister has said that some of these countries do not want to help Pakistan and are using corruption as a pretext.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 14^th, 2010.