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ISLAMABAD:
Asian Development Bank Country Director while releasing
economic update of Pakistan said most of the economic
indicators show that Pakistan's economy is healthy, stable and
heading in the right direction.
ADB chief in
Pakistan Marshuk Ali Shah made these remarks in a joint press
conference here at ADB office. Naveed Hamid Senior Economic
Advisor and Deputy Country Director was also present at the
occasion.
Shah told
reporters that Pakistan's economy is in take off position as
growth is picking up, deficit is declining, unemployment is
reducing, besides other positive economic indicators.
He said Government
has pushed forward with its economic reforms agenda and made
progress in privatization of public sector enterprises. Data
on poverty related public expenditure, also shows a
appreciable growth, reflecting the Government's commitment to
poverty reduction, he remarked.
About domestic
sector, he said the real sector of the economy showed a robust
growth in the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2004. He added in
the agriculture sector, rice and sugarcane crops are estimated
to be larger than last year, while the cotton crop is
estimated to be smaller.
Growth of
manufacturing production in the first quarter of 2004 was
twice that in the same quarter of last year, he added.
The growth was
broad based, with increases being particularly large in the
case of cement, electronics, and automobiles. Financial
sector, telecommunications, electronic media, and construction
led growth in the service sector, he said.
Pakistan enters
new year with confidence about economy
Bolstered by a blistering macro-economic resurgence in 2003,
Pakistan is set to usher in the new year with a return to
global capital markets and less dependency on the
International Monetary Fund.
A special report by a French news agency reported that kicking
off 2004, Pakistan will float some 300 million dollars worth
of eurobonds, breaking a five year absence from global bond
markets after the rescheduling of 610 million dollars in bonds
in 1999 to avert a default on payments.
A latest report
says that the foreign exchange reserves are close to $12
billion and are sufficient to finance 12 months of imports.
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