January 2, 2002	Wednesday	Shawwal 17, 1422

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ISLAMABAD, Jan 1: The government is meeting the defence requirements of the armed forces to frustrate any external aggression, Minister for Finance Shaukat Aziz said on Tuesday.

Talking to reporters here on Tuesday after having inaugurated the launching of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Bank, he said the country’s defence was top priority of the government for which everything could be sacrificed.

“When there is the question of sovereignty and defence of the homeland then everything could be sacrificed and that is why we, in the ministry of finance, are entertaining their (armed forces’) all requests,” he said.

The finance minister was asked to comment on his Indian counterpart’s recent statement in which he had said that his ministry was providing all financial support to the army keeping in view the possibility of war with Pakistan.

“This goes without saying that we could not be careless and will do everything to defend our country for which all the required funding will be provided to the armed forces on top priority,” he replied.

FOREX RESERVES UP: Aziz said that gross foreign exchange reserves had reached to an all time high of 4.8 billion dollars despite the fact that the government had made over 100 million dollars’ repayment only on Monday. He said the State Bank was holding over 3.1 billion dollars’ reserves while the rest were being maintained by commercial banks.

He said the stock market was improving and there was stability in prices and the Pak rupee has stabilized considerably against dollar.

“Under these circumstances there is no worry and we are in a position to face any situation,” he added.

Aziz also said that economy had improved substantially during the last two years and “that is why I say that there is no need to be worried about in case anything happens extraordinary.”

He said Pakistan had been given adequate foreign support by its friends and well-wishers. “Debt treatment given to us is very significant to withstand any pressure,” he said.