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Govt striving for

revival of economy,

says Shaukat

ABU DHABI: Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz said that Pakistan's government was vigorously pursuing the track for revival of the economy and to create conditions conducive for good governance.

Addressing prominent Pakistanis, bankers, and members of business community here on Sunday evening, he said the performance of all the institutions was being monitored strictly to improve their working for the betterment of the people.

The performance of the previous governments, he regretted, was not satisfactory in these areas adding, Pakistan was blessed with enormous resources and the judicious management of these resources was needed in the national interest.

Shaukat Aziz further said that the thrust of the government was on the economic growth as the growth of economy would benefit everybody in the country. Therefore, he maintained, for the first time the government was making relentless efforts to reduce poverty, adding unnecessary expenditure in the public sector was also controlled effectively.

Talking about the defence budget, he stated, the defence capability of the country could not be compromised at any cost and Pakistan believed only in strengthening its defence capabilities effectively.

However, he said, this year the government took away Rs 7 billion from the current defence budget and allocated this amount towards poverty alleviation.

Oil prices, he said, will definitely be reduced in the country if the prices showed declining trends in the international market. Inflation menace, badly confronted by the people in Pakistan, was being checked through various economic measures, he added.

Speaking about the privatisation policy, the minister said the task was being tackled in a transparent manner and 90 percent privatisation proceeds would be utilised for debt retirement, while 10 percent income would be set aside to reduce poverty.

The minister expressed pleasure over tremendously upward trends in Karachi Stock Exchange, hoping this would stabilise country's stocks exchange market.

About the Balance of Payment, Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz said the government was engaged in fruitful talks with the World Bank and IMF in this regard.

He assured that the economic decisions of the government would be implemented strictly to stabilise the foreign exchange reserves position which would in turn improve the balance of payment.

The minister praised the efforts of Pakistanis living abroad for their contribution to strengthen the economic stability in the country.

He said that the Pakistani expatriates living in UAE were also contributing their due share in this respect.

Pakistan was facing the challenges boldly and no decision was being made by the government in conflict of the interest but the decisions are being made judiciously in the national interest, he added.

The minister said that the government was trying to improve services in banking sector to discourage the use of Hundi Channel.

The finance minister also answered questions posed by the audience.

Earlier the minister called on the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and delivered him a message from the Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf for the President of UAE, His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan.

At the meeting, the minister reviewed ways of enhancing bilateral cooperation and discussed a number of regional and international matters of mutual interest.ÑAPP