Dispelling rumours about conditions attached with receipt of $1.5 billion, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar Saturday said that the assistance has been extended by friendly countries unconditionally as a gift and their share in public welfare projects. Talking to a group of mediapersons here, the minister said that all the speculations about this huge amount of foreign exchange should now come to an end.
He said the whole world today recognises the economic policies of the prime minister and economic stability of the country. He said $1.5 billion received from the friendly countries have been deposited in development fund and foreign investors are showing their confidence in Pakistan. Dar said the friendly countries expressed the desire that their names should not be made public.
He said Pakistan repaid $2.70 billion to the IMF and pointed out that Pakistan entered into an agreement with the IMF to repay the old loan. Dar once again expressed his optimism that the foreign exchange reserves would reach $10 billion by the end of March, 2014. He said revenue collection has witnessed an increase of 17.7 percent and the provinces would get Rs 200 billion more as their share compared to last financial year. He said the economic indicators are positive, the GDP has witnessed increase and the exchange rate is strengthening. He said Sindh would be linked with rest of the country through Motorway and elaborated that Rs 800 billion would be spent on Motorway projects across the country.