ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar Tuesday informed Jihad Azour, Director Middle East and Central Asia Department (MCD) of International Monetary Fund (IMF) and his team about successful article IV consultation held in Dubai recently.
During a meeting, the finance minister informed them that the macro indicators had shown remarkable improvement since 2013 when PML(N) government took over, according to press statement issued here by Finance Ministry. He said the only area of concern was exports for which the government had launched a very aggressive program to boost exports.
Dar informed Director MCD that in collaboration with International Finance Cooperation (IFC), government was planning to channel private sector investment to infrastructure projects of Pakistan.He expressed confidence that Pakistan would register growth of over 5% in current financial year and reach upto 7% mark in medium term.
Responding to a question by Azour, Director MCD IMF about the Current Account Deficit, the finance minister said we had over $8 billion of import of capital goods during current FY which was not only necessary for increasing production capacity but also proves that private businesses are benefiting from low discount rates.
Director MCD IMF Mr. Jihad Azour observed that adhering to reforms process will protect the Pakistan’s economy from shocks and help the Government in achieving higher sustainable inclusive growth rate.
