ISLAMABAD, March 5: President Gen Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday assured six ADB executive directors that the process of political and economic reforms in Pakistan was irreversible as the government was taking all steps to ensure sustainability and implementation of reforms after the October election.

The Asian Development Bank directors had expressed concern over the post-October situation and said that bilateral donors and multilateral agencies needed to be taken into confidence over the issue, informed sources said.

The ADB team had also raised the during its meeting with Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz on Monday and was informed that the reform process could not be undone by any individual or organization, including the future political government.

The president told the visitors that his government had been taking “bold and unpopular decisions” with a view to improving the economy.

The president said that successive governments in Pakistan could not achieve a turnaround in economy because of their so-called political compulsions and hesitation to take bold and unpopular decisions.

Gen Musharraf pointed out that since he himself would be there as the president, he would ensure that the political and economic reforms continued to be implemented by the new political government.

“Since the president is likely to be the head of the state for some time, there is no question of reversing the reform agenda by anybody,” said a source close to the Chief Executive’s Secretariat.

Talking to Dawn, sources quoted the president as having said that he had been consulting politicians, professionals and technocrats to bring improvement to the country’s political and economic system so that people could get justice and that every thing was done on merit.

Sources said the ADB directors were satisfied with the assurances offered by the president and assured him of their all possible financial support for Pakistan. They said the ADB would provide $1 billion to Pakistan during 2002 and that this amount was likely to be increased in 2003. They also promised to offer additional funds for poverty alleviation and health and education sectors.

Talking about the economic revival strategy, the president said that agriculture, information technology, oil & gas, and small and medium enterprises were areas of focus and added that progress had been achieved in these sectors.

The president thanked the ADB for being the country’s biggest multilateral donor for increasing its portfolio during the last year.