April 18, 2006	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 19, 1427

WASHINGTON, April 17: Pakistan is sending a high-level delegation to Washington this week to attend annual spring meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund that begin on April 22.

Dr Salman Shah, adviser to the prime minister on finance and economic affairs, who arrives here on April 19, will lead this delegation.

Other members of the delegation include State Bank governor Dr Shamshad Akhtar, secretary general finance, secretary finance and adviser to the ministry of finance.

The delegation will attend multilateral meetings such as those of G-24 and G-77 groups of developing countries, as well as the annual meetings of the IMF and its development committee.

In its previous report, the IMF had described Pakistan’s current economic performance and prospects as “more favourable than at any time in at least the past decade.”

“The restoration of fiscal discipline, a cautious monetary policy, trade liberalisation, privatisation and other structural reforms in the financial and tax areas aimed at improving efficiency and the business environment have created a sound basis for a lasting economic recovery,” the IMF observed.

The report, however, had warned that the rising trend of inflation in Pakistan was a cause for concern and had urged Islamabad to gradually tighten its monetary policy to tackle inflation.

The IMF had also supported Pakistan’s fiscal policy stance, which allowed for both a further reduction in the public debt burden and a substantial increase in social and development spending, in line with the government’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper.

While also praising Pakistan’s recent economic performance, the World Bank announced a 50 per cent increase in its lending; from about a $1 billion in the past fiscal year to about $1.5 billion for the current fiscal year.

During a visit to Islamabad last year, World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz compared Pakistan’s economic progress to a glass already half full, and assured Pakistanis that the glass was further filling up.

While in Washington, the Pakistani delegation will also have bilateral meetings with the US Treasury, USAID, US Exim Bank and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.