The newly-appointed World Bank Vice President South Asia Region, Isabel Guerrero, on her first visit to Pakistan after taking over from Praful Patel, who has retired, called on Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Finance Minister Naveed Qamar, State Bank Governor Dr Shamshad Akhtar and PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari, separately.
Ms Guerrero stated that additional actions are needed to safeguard the economy against further shocks in an effort to ensure that Pakistan will be able to meet the development challenges it is facing today. She denied media reports that $500 million loan for budgetary support was likely in the near future. Such programme lending is linked to prevailing macroeconomic conditions, which are just not right in Pakistan today. She added that the $500 million loan was never appraised.
Guerrero was in Pakistan on a two-day visit essentially as a prelude to her meetings with the Pakistani delegation during the World Bank annual meeting scheduled in October. "I wanted to meet counterparts in the government, especially the economic team, prior to welcoming them in Washington during the WB-IMF annual meetings later this year," said Guerrero. She noted that the government has taken a number of steps to support the country in the face of high oil and food prices in the international market.
A press release issued by the WB said that Guerrero met with the government''s economic team led by Finance Minister Naveed Qamar to discuss the government reform plans and the WB programme. The Finance Minister briefed the delegation about the series of measures taken by the government to stabilise the economy. He reiterated the government commitment to stabilise the economy at the earliest and reaffirmed willingness to take additional measures.
He said the government is making efforts to protect the poor and deserving segments of the society from rising prices through ''Benazir Income Support Programme''. Promoting economic growth with emphasis on commodity producing sectors, job creation, poverty alleviation, restoring macroeconomic stability and building foreign exchange reserves top the agenda of the democratic government. He invited the development partners like the World Bank to play their role in assisting the government in achieving its objectives.
The Finance Minister also briefed the visiting delegation about the ongoing political developments in the country and informed that with the election of the President of Pakistan the country will achieve a stable political environment, which is essential for achieving the economic objectives of the government.
In a meeting with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Pakistan People''s Party Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari, the WB team discussed power, infrastructure, water management, education, safety nets, public health and nutrition as priority areas for development support.
In addition to the planned loans and credits, Ms Guerrero offered World Bank technical and analytical support to ensure Pakistan has the best international expertise to address its development challenges. During her visit Ms Guerrero reconfirmed the WB''s ongoing commitment to Pakistan, saying that the Bank''s investment programmes in Pakistan are on track despite some political and security uncertainty over the past few month.