President General Pervez Musharraf on Monday said that the government stood resolute in the difficult hour to help alleviate the sufferings of the people affected by October 8 earthquake.
"A massive effort has already been mounted to provide needed relief to the affected people of NWFP and Azad Kashmir and the Government is simultaneously charting out plans for rehabilitation the infrastructure and resettlement of the people," he told Rodrigo de Rato, Managing Director of International Monetary Fund (IMF) who along with three members of his team called on him.
The President greatly appreciated the generous response of the international community and thanked the friendly countries for their moral and material support.
On economic development, he said that it was an avowed objective of the Government to distribute the benefits of recent economic gains in an equitable manner so as to reduce the discrepancies in income levels of various strata of the society.
The President particularly emphasised that the Government was pursuing a social intervention package including supply of clean water, rural health care and micro finance facilities to improve the quality of life of the lower income groups.
He also emphasised that the Government was focused on attracting investment to achieve these objectives as soon as possible.
Rodrigo expressed profound sympathies with the people and Government of Pakistan over the devastation caused by the earthquake of October 8, which resulted in the loss of precious lives and destruction of properties and infrastructure across NWFP and Azad Kashmir.
He appreciated the Government's rapid response to this natural calamity and also commended the spontaneous efforts which the citizens of Pakistan mounted to mitigate the suffering of affected population of NWFP and Azad Kashmir
Discussing Pakistan's economic situation, the IMF Managing Director opined that Pakistan had made remarkable economic progress in the past half a decade and made good progress on structural reforms. He lauded Government's resolve to carry forward the reform process in the future.
He appreciated the recent efforts of the government of Pakistan to enhance supplies and tight monetary policy in order to reduce inflation.
The President welcomed the IMF Managing Director's visit to Islamabad and thanked him for his words of sympathy for the victims of the earthquake.
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