Islamabad, Jan 18: An International Monetary Fund delegation visiting Pakistan today appreciated the country's efforts at economic reform and asked the civilian government to sustain the process, officials said. Delegation leader George Abed said the reforms implemented over the past three years had enabled the country to achieve macroeconomic stability, according to a finance ministry spokesman.
The reforms have set the pace for higher growth and alleviation of poverty in Pakistan, which returned to civilian rule in November following general elections, the spokesman quoted abed as saying.
The three-member IMF team arrived yesterday for five days of talks aimed at assessing the policy trends under the coalition government headed by prime minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali.
Jamali's finance advisor Shaukat Aziz, who was finance minister in president Pervez Musharraf cabinet during the military rule, assured the delegation that the home-grown reform package would be maintained under the new government.
Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves have rises to a record of nearly 10 billion dollars over the past three years, the budget deficit has been reduced and revenue collection has been improved.
The IMF is in the middle of a three-year lending programme for this Islamic republic of 145 million people.
The 1.3 billion dollar loan programme began in December 2001, in the wake of Pakistan's foreign policy U-turn to support of the US-led campaign against the Taliban and their al-Qaeda allies in Afghanistan. Bureau Report