Gilani appreciates US confidence in Pakistan’s economic system       
ISLAMABAD, Jan 27 (APP):Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Thursday appreciated the confidence of US Government in Pakistan’s economic system.Talking to a US delegation led by Senior Advisor to the US President David Lipton here at the PM House.The Prime Minister hoped other donor countries will follow suit as his government had put in place third party verification and beneficiaries assessment, besides public disclosure of programme performance to increase donor and public trust in the utilization of foreign assistance.The Prime Minister said while the government was working hard to improve internal controls for transparency, the concerns should not become a pretext for withholding or stopping the much needed support, which has already been pledged by the donors to Pakistan.
In this context he added that the floods affected cannot be made to wait for their early rehabilitation. He said the government had already drastically cut its development and non-development expenditure to divert the resources for providing succour and relief to the flood victims.
The Prime Minister said his government was committed to introduce and implement economic reforms. The Reformed General Sales Tax and flood tax measures had already been introduced and passed through the Senate and intensive consultations were now being held with major political parties of the country to build national consensus for their passage through the National Assembly.
The Prime Minister said political dialogue has been initiated over national challenges like governance, institution building and security situation of the country.
The Prime Minister underlined that despite Pakistan’s current economic difficulties, his government will remain steadfast in its commitment to war against terror.
The Prime Minister highlighted the positive trend in the national economy as a result of steps being taken by his government that include substantial increase in exports, record home remittances and all-time high foreign exchange reserves, which he said, were reflective of the sound economic fundamentals of the country.
The Prime Minister said that while the government was implementing the IMF programme in the interest of the country, the US influence would be crucial for the disbursement of the next IMF tranche in March this year to help in preparation for next fiscal year’s Budget.
David Lipton commended the Prime Minister for clearly communicating the message to the rest of the world that his government was not undertaking the reforms because the donor community so wanted but was doing it in the long term interest of Pakistan’s economy.
He said the US recognized government’s efforts to overcome security and economic challenges and agreed with the Prime Minister that any economic strategy can only be palatable for the people in a democratic system when embedded into a political strategy.
He appreciated that Pakistan in true democratic traditions was doing its utmost to take all the political stakeholders in the country on board through a process of consultations for the introduction of much needed economic reforms in the country.
He said the success of the political consultation process in the country and signs of improving economy would attract international community’s support to Pakistan.
He assured the Prime Minister that US administration will remain engaged with Pakistan in confronting the two major challenges to Pakistan’s economy i.e. budget and power deficit.
David Lipton said he was looking forward to Pakistan-US Energy Dialogue to fast track the energy projects being funded under the Kerry Lugar Assistance Programme and for reviewing the electricity demand and supply situation in the country on remedial measures.
Minister for Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Minister for Petroleum Syed Naveed Qamar, Minister for Water & Power Raja Pervez Ashraf, Minister of State for Finance & Economic Affairs Mrs Hina Rabbani Khar, Senator Syeda Sughra Imam, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Dr Nadeem ul Haq, US Ambassador Cameron Munter and other senior officials were also present in the meeting