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CE hopeful about $9bn export target

Tax reforms to

take care of

budget deficit

ISLAMABAD: The Chief Executive, General Pervez Musharraf has expressed the hope that the country will achieve $9 billion of exports during the current fiscal year, and said that tax reforms are being taken to overcome the budget deficit.

He was talking to the newsmen at the Aiwan-e-Sadr on Friday after exchanging Eid greetings with the diplomats, ministers and senior government officials, along with President Mohammad Rafiq Tarar.

When asked to comment on the buoyancy shown by the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE), which crossed 2000 level on Thursday, the Chief Executive said: "The stock market is going up because it sees a better future."

He said: "It (stock market) is showing upward trend and indicates a better future," and added that the investment in stock market would generate business activity and would contribute to industrial development.

Saying that the country's economy was showing positive results, the Chief Executive expressed the hope that "Insha-Allah, we will touch $9 billion figure of exports during the current fiscal year which will be quite substantial as against last year."

Moreover, the Chief Executive said, the government was making some tax reforms to overcome the budget deficit and "change the deficit into surplus, maybe."

He said that exports were increasing, "tax reforms are being made to surmount the budget deficit and expenditures have been curtailed. These are the measures we are taking to revive the economy."

However, he said, he would cover, in detail, steps about the country's economy during his speech on March 23. "I will cover in detail about what we have done in the past, the future plans and their impact."

When asked about the ban on the outdoor political activities, processions etc, the Chief Executive said: "It was inherent in the emergency proclamation order."

He said that there was nothing new as these things were automatically banned under the emergency order. "Someone just said it and it made the headlines," he added.

The Chief Executive said these measures were taken with regard to the prevailing circumstances, including the coming visit of President Clinton.ÑAPP