Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday said despite the enormous challenges inherited by government in 2013, its prudent policies have led to an improvement in all economic indicators with each passing day.
Talking to a delegation of World Bank led by Vice President Annette Dixon here at the PM House, the Prime Minister said Pakistan's macroeconomic situation was improving, inflation was at the lowest level in past 13 years, and foreign exchange reserves were considerably up while fiscal deficit is down.
The Prime Minister said the government had energy, education, economy and eliminating extremism as its top priorities.
The Prime Minister thanked World Bank for continued support for Pakistan.
He said government had taken decisive steps against terrorism and extremism. "Pakistan has suffered enormously at the hands of terrorism both in terms of financial losses as well as loss of human lives. We have broken the back of terrorists by destroying their sanctuaries and hideouts," he said.
Talking about Temporarily Displaced Persons (TDPs), he said the government was committed to help restore lives and livelihoods of TDPs affected by Operation Zarb-e-Azb. He appreciated World Bank's financial support for the TDPs.
Ms Dixon congratulated the Prime Minister on Pakistan's economic indicators after 2013 and said there was huge potential especially in agriculture and dairy sectors. She said WB had scaled up its support for Pakistan due to better economic conditions in the country. She appreciated the steps taken by the government in improving relations with Afghanistan and said that would contribute towards lasting peace in the region.
She also informed the Prime Minister about her visit to Lahore and meeting with Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif and visit to BISP office.
Apprising the PM of her meeting with members of the business community in Lahore, she said they were appreciative that economic situation in Pakistan had stabilised and appeared keen to have increased opportunities in all fields.
The delegation also extended their condolences on the terrorist attack at Army Public School, Peshawar. Other members of the delegation included Rachid Benmessaoud, Country Director and Hassan Zaman, Senior Regional Advisor.
Federal Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar; Secretary Finance Waqar Masood Khan; Secretary Economic Affairs Division Muhammad Saleem Sethi and Executive Director World Bank Nasir Khosa were also present during the meeting.
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