ISLAMABAD, Nov 12: Pakistan is focusing on private sector development and it is also trying to reduce the production costs of doing business in the country to make our products more competitive in the global market.

However, the country needs to rapidly develop the requisite infrastructure. This was stated by Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance, Dr Salman Shah while talking to a World Bank delegation headed by Mr Joseph Del Mar Pernia, Director Finance and Banking Sector Development which held a meeting with him at Ministry of Finance on Friday.

Minister of State for Finance, Omer Ayub Khan also participated in the deliberations. Huge investments and technical assistance is required in infrastructure development to give a real boost to the private sector.

The government would welcome World Bank support in this sector, he added. The World Bank delegation discussed the pace of financial sector reforms strategy, private sector development programme and public sector capacity building project launched by Pakistan with the assistance of the World Bank.

The World Bank team expressed satisfaction over the pace of the implementation of financial sector reform strategy and observed that all prior actions required have been taken by the government.

World Bank team said it is reviewing the ESAP reforms to facilitate lower end market reforms related to financial access of agriculture sector, SMEs, etc. It is also reviewing strategies to support development of long term financing instrument in the capital markets of Pakistan.

World Bank team hinted at the possibility of increasing IDA facility for Pakistan. The new $300 million programme to compensate Pakistan for the cost of financial sector restructuring was in the pipeline and on completion of paper work would be released as soon as later December or early January. The World Bank team said the Bank is satisfied and excited that Pakistan Government is moving fast on private sector development. -APP