LAHORE, March 4: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Friday said the Fiscal Responsibility and Debt Limitation Bill passed by the National Assembly would help eliminate revenue deficit and reduce public debt through effective debt management.

He told a news conference at the Governor's House that the bill would ensure check and balance on the financial management and put the country on the road to progress and economic development.

The prime minister said that only four or five countries of the world had such a law, adding that the bill was designed to curtail unnecessary borrowing. Shaukat Aziz said once the bill came into force only the national parliament would have the authority to sanction direly needed borrowing from the international agencies.

He said the government did not want to go back to the past practice of heavy borrowings because this could impede economic progress and weaken the national defence. In Islamabad, the Minister of State for Finance Omer Ayub Khan said he government will bring the revenue deficit to zero level by the year 2008.

The current revenue deficit is around Rs144 billion, he said. The minister of state told a press conference that the fiscal responsibility and debt limitation bill unanimously passed by the National Assembly on Thursday was a big achievement and historic legislation for the country.

It will help maintain fiscal discipline and accountability at all levels and help reduce the country's public debt, Omer Ayub Khan said. Omer Ayub Khan said the legislation was brought about despite opposition from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and some other international institutions.

He said as a result of the legislation the country's revenue deficit would be reduced to zero by June 30, 2008, total public debt would not exceed 60 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) during the years until 2013 and after that public debt would be kept below 60 per cent. -APP