20000121

Debt Management body likely to be formed next week

ISLAMABAD: A debt management committee is expected to be constituted next week tackle country's most ticklish economic dilemma in an effective mode.

The government is according utmost urgency to evolving a strategy to pull the country out of debt trap worth around $32 billion, sources at economic quarters said here on Thursday.

Multi-facet pragmatic modus operandi is needed to be worked out on war-footing basis to resolve debt predicament Ñ a festering economic woe Ñ fast eating into the vitals of the economy, sources observed.

New economic revival agenda unfolded by the present government last month, also indicated practical measures to get the country out of the slough of despondency, dismantling the debt trap, sources maintained.

The Bretton Woods institutions have already informed the country's economic masters that free launches were no more available, sources said adding, the government has earnestly resorted to austerity drive, curtailing the spending besides putting an end to further borrowing.

The new debt management approach, being evolved at fast track, will comprise both short-and long-term recipes to trim the debt liability within manageable precincts, sources maintained.

The government, sources said, seems to be determined to hammer out even unpopular and difficult decisions within a short span to revive the economy on viable footings, without succumbing to the pressure of vested interests.

Breathing space, provided by debt-rescheduling, is expected to be effectively exploited to pave the way for intrinsic economic resurgence and get rid of vicious debt trap, sources stated adding that rescheduling, even a short-lived cushion, can help retrieve economy back on rails. APP