ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar expressed the hope that national economy would grow by over 4 per cent during the current fiscal year (2013-14). He claimed that Inflation would remain in a single digit due to growth both in the agricultural and industrial sectors. Ishaq Dar was addressing the First Business Session at 47th annual meeting of Asian Development Bank (ADB) Board of Governors in Astana, Kazakstan.
Dar said the fiscal deficit had been restrained to around 6 per cent through an increase in revenue and reduction in expenditure along with positive growth in exports and remittances.
He also outlined his government’s strategies for overcoming the macroeconomic challenges. Meanwhile, during the Constituency Breakfast Meeting, Dar suggested the ADB to revise the absolute poverty line from $1.25 per day to $2 per day in conformity with the latest revision adopted by the International Monetary Fund. The minister stated that presently 2.4 billion people (40 per cent of world population) were living below the poverty line of $2 a day.
He suggested the development partners such as ADB, World Bank and IMF to devise different strategies and action plans for promoting disaster risk reduction programmes. He also offered that these institutions could benefit from Pakistan’s experiences. During his call on the Minister for Finance and Deputy Prime Minister Bakhyt Sultanov, he extended the invitation to President Nursultan Nazarbayev as well as to Finance Minister to visit Pakistan during the current year.
He emphasized the need for examine the existing frameworks for increasing bilateral trade, which was far below the potential of two countries.
He requested the minister to consider measures for easing the movement of people along with enhanced cooperation in the areas of trade, investment banking and finance.
Meanwhile, the Finance Minister expressed his hope that foreign exchange reserves would 15 billion dollars by September this year.
Talking to prominent UK fund managers including CEO London Stock Exchange Xavier Rolet, the Minister apprised them of Pakistan’s macroeconomic indicators and structural reforms undertaken by the government. He informed them that the country was opened to business and offered attractive investment opportunities with high returns.
He said with the launch of the Euro Bond Pakistan had returned to the international bond market after seven years absence.
The Finance Minister also informed that Pakistan would issue an Islamic bond denominated in dollars for Islamic banking institutions and funds.
The Finance Minister also informed the group about the recent auction of 3G and 4G licenses which had fetched over 1.1 billion dollars.
