ISLAMABAD, Oct 4: The first-ever meeting between Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali and World Bank president James D. Wolfensohn on Friday in Washington

is being viewed here in the official circles as “highly satisfactory.”

Mr Wolfensohn has indicated that the bank is prepared to increase the level of its assistance from the current $600 million a year to up to $1 billion a year, continue its assistance for poverty reduction and scale up its support for development of water and irrigation infrastructure.

The prime minister, on his part, shared with the WB president his government’s vision and development priorities which included increased agricultural production; better management of water resources; improved infrastructure, especially in power and road sectors; better education and health services and human resource development.

The officials were confident that Pakistan would be able to sustain its economic programme and develop the sectoral reform programmes needed to strengthen governance, institutions, and regulatory capacity to qualify for the increased level of WB assistance.

The World Bank president said Pakistan had laid the basis for faster economic growth, a vital component to underpin the country’s poverty reduction efforts.

He expressed the bank’s willingness to expand its support for the rehabilitation and possible expansion of water and irrigation infrastructure, as according to him, water management in Pakistan was critical, and that the bank saw good potential for expansion of its support in the field.

The WB chief welcomed the continuation of economic reforms in Pakistan and urged deeper attention to the outstanding agenda in areas like education, power sector, and civil service reform.