August 31, 2003	Sunday	Rajab 2, 1424

ISLAMABAD, Aug 30: The government is finalizing a new agriculture policy that aims at changing cropping patterns, increasing yields and improving services.

“The agriculture sector requires special attention in the wake of new WTO regime being enforced in 2005 when agricultural subsidy will have to be removed and that is why we are finalizing our new agriculture policy,” said Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz.

Talking to Dawn, he said that the new policy would shortly be placed before the Federal Cabinet for approval. Before its submission to the cabinet, Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali would be given a detailed briefing about the policy, he said.

He said major focus would be on increasing wheat, rice and cotton production during the next three-year period. The purpose, he pointed out, was to significantly increase the exports of these three major crops.

“Then, issues like marketing of the agricultural products, their storage and packing will receive a lot of attention in the new agriculture policy,” he said.

On the economic front, the finance minister said, improving governance in the economic ministries, removing poverty and creating more job opportunities were the major challenges of the government. He said $1.2 billion new investment had been made in the textile sector that helped create 0.5 million new jobs. “But we need more jobs for which the textile sector and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) would be given all possible financial support,” he added.

He said second generation reforms were also very critical to further improve capital market and banking & insurance sector. “Then project implementation is a key challenge so that development funds are spent judiciously,” he said adding that corruption at lower and middle level would now be removed in federal and provincial departments. The menace of corruption at higher level had already been eliminated during the last three years, he claimed.

Asked about the IMF review mission currently visiting Pakistan, he said, policy level discussions were taking place in various ministries. He said he would meet the mission before it leaves for Washington next month.

He said Mr. Abbas Mirakhor,a member of IMF Executive Board was arriving here on September 8 to hold further discussion with the senior Pakistani officials. Mr. Mirakhor, an Iranian national, has all along been supporting Pakistan at IMF boards’ meetings.

The finance minister, however, reiterated that Pakistan had no plan whatsoever to seek new funding from the IMF after the completion of ongoing three-year $1.3 billion Poverty Reduction Growth Facility (PRGF) in October next year.