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Economy has improved, says Shaukat

LONDON: Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz said that the government has managed to stabilise the economy and the country has now become net exporter of capital.

Addressing the group of prominent city bankers, market analysts and investment managers, during his stay in London on Wednesday last, he said Pakistan has not received a single dollar from IMF since May 1999, and is now current on all payments, adding the backlog has been cleared, according to a message received here on Monday.

Shaukat expressed these views while attending a luncheon hosted jointly by Lord Renwick, Deputy Chairman, Rober Fleming Banking, and Sir Peter Wakefield, chairman, Asia House London.

The minister said the debts have been rescheduled and as a result of these economy measures, the credit rating of Pakistan has improved from D-minus to B-minus.

Inflation is down and the growth rate has picked up, he said continuing, the confidence in the economy is reflected in stock exchange where shares index has shown an increase of nearly 50 percent in the past three months.

Introducing Altaf Saleem, Chairman, Privatisation Commission, the finance minister said that the privatisation policy will be ready this month. Only non-strategic units are being privatised and the proceeds will be used to retire debts, he added.

He said that the outstanding issues with most IPPs have already been settled and negotiations are underway with Hubco at senior level.

He said that the settlement with Hubco would require debt re-structuring and the World Bank, which guaranteed the project, will have to be a major player in these negotiations.

Those who attended the luncheon included representatives of Barclay Private Banking, Shell, Price Waterhouse, Royal Sun Alliance and National Power.

The finance minister was accompanied by the Pakistan High Commissioner, Prof. Akbar S. Ahmed, Tariq Azeem Khan, Media Adviser and Shehzad Hasan, Commercial Secretary. APP