Pak Finance minister to promote foreign investment in IMF, WB meetings

April 16th, 2011 - 5:43 pm ICT by ANI  

Washington, April 16(ANI): Pakistan Finance Minister Adbul Hafeez Shaikh, who is in Washington to attend International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) meetings, has reaffirmed Islamabad’s resolve to facilitate foreign investment to overcome economic challenges and put the country on a path to sustained development.

After addressing the corporate members of the Business Council for International Understanding, Shaikh said that the Pakistan Government is committed to attracting investment in various sectors of the economy and at the same time taking a range of measures to put the economy on a sound footing.

“These (economic) challenges are our own. We have to deal with them. And we are trying to do the best,” the Dawn quoted the minister, as telling APP.

Citing measures taken by his country for economic improvement, Shaikh said that Pakistan has put in place an “austerity program to cut government expenditures.”

“We are trying to mobilize domestic revenues. We are trying to open up our economy and deregulate it, assign a greater role to the private sector,” he added.

Shaikh said the government would also pursue policies to bring “prosperity through pricing of agricultural products and sharing the benefits with the rural community.”

Pakistan is also focused on reaping benefits from global integration and access to markets, he added, while expressing hope for positive trends in export growth.

The Finance Minister, who is leading a delegation of top economic managers to IMF-World Bank meetings, will also hold a bilateral dialogue with the US government on advancing economic ties.

Shaikh will also meet the representatives of the Departments of State and Treasury as well as USAID and White House officials. (ANI)

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