Spokesman of the Finance Division has strongly contradicted a report appeared in a section of press on September 25 stating that World Bank has suspended support loans for Pakistan.
The report claimed that the World Bank had suspended program loans, budget support and disqualified the country for International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) eligibility.
In a statement issued here on Wednesday, the spokesman said that this report was totally incorrect and infact there was no such suspension of support from the World Bank.
Indeed, he said that the government of Pakistan and the World Bank continue to remain actively engaged on an ongoing basis on various projects and programmes including policy based lending support within the framework of Country Partnership Strategy 2015-19 of the Bank.
The spokesman said that despite challenges, the macro-economic conditions in the country remain stable, adding that the forex
reserves as on September 22nd, 2017 were stood at $20.051 billion while State Bank of Pakistan reserves were $14.133 billion.
The forex reserves were adequate to cover about 3 months of imports well above the threshold defined by the Bank for IBRD
eligibility, he added.
Therefore the question of suspension of IBRD support does not arise at this point in time. Last two months economic data shows a strong comeback of economic performance, exports increased by 17.9 percent, remittances by 13 percent, tax revenue by 21.5 percent, and FDI by 154.9 percent.
With these positive trends strengthening in coming months, the overall macroeconomic condition will improve substantially, he added.
The spokesman said that due caution is to be exercised while reporting on such matters. This is necessary to protect the hard
earned economic gains achieved over the last four and a half years and carry the growth trajectory of the economy forward, he said. (APP)
