Spokesman
of the Finance Division has strongly contradicted a report titled : "WB
suspends support loans for Pakistan". A section of media carried the
report on 25th September and it said that the World Bank had suspended program
loans/budget support and disqualified the country for IBRD eligibility.
The
spokesman said that this report is totally incorrect. The fact of the matter is
that there is no such suspension of support from the World Bank. Indeed, the
Government of Pakistan and the World Bank continue to remain actively engaged
on an ongoing basis on various projects and programs 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. FX reserves as on September 22nd, 2017 were $20.051
billion while SBP reserves were $14.133 billion adequate to cover about 3
months of imports well above the threshold defined by the Bank for IBRD eligibility.
Therefore the question of suspension of IBRD support does not arise at this
point in time. Last two months economic data show a strong comeback of economic
performance, exports increased by 17.9 %, remittances by 13 %, Tax Revenue by
21.5 %, and FDI by 154.9 %. With these positive trends strengthening in coming
months, the overall macroeconomic condition will improve substantially.
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 to carry the growth trajectory of the economy forward, he said.