ISLAMABAD, Nov 26: The government on Friday asked the World Bank to assist Pakistan in achieving its goals of poverty alleviation, improvement in the quality of life of the masses and easy access to justice.

The request was made by the Prime Minister's Adviser on Finance Dr Salman Shah to a visiting mission of the bank led by Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Director Sadiq Ahmad.

The mission indicated that the country's annual assistance would be increased. Dr Shah sought the World Bank's assistance for provision of health and education facilities and clean drinking water, infrastructure development and improvement in other social sectors.

The adviser said the country's economy had stabilized to a great extent and all macro-economic indicators were showing improvement. He said the challenge before the government was to focus more on providing relief to the masses without compromising its growth targets.

He said the government had identified the agriculture, industry, information technology and telecommunication, construction and natural resources development sectors for achieving higher growth, which would contribute to job creation and poverty alleviation.

Development of rural areas with focus on off-farm employment would be among the major thrust areas of the government, he said. Issues related to poverty reduction credit, implementation of financial management and reporting rules, procurement reforms, oil and power subsidies, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority, reforms implementation by the provinces, the Public Sector Development Programme and ways to enhance coordination with the bank were discussed.

Mr Ahmad said the World Bank mission in Islamabad had recommended an increase in international development assistance to Pakistan. He said that from a position of constant crisis management, the country had moved to a stage where all macro-economic indicators were exhibiting marked improvement. He said economic stability had led to political stability in the country.