December 20, 2006	Wednesday	Ziqa'ad 28, 1427

LAHORE, Dec 19: Dr Salman Shah, adviser to prime minister on finance, on Tuesday said the country was likely to receive $5 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) during the current fiscal.Talking to reporters at the Annual General Meeting of the Pakistan Society of Development Economists (PSDE), he said the amount coupled with foreign remittances worth $4.5 billion and assistance from international financial institutions would help the government to keep the fiscal and trade deficits within reasonable limits. He said that GDP debt ratio had come down to 53 per cent.

He ruled out the possibility of devaluation of the rupee, saying only the market forces would determine the exchange value of the rupee.

He said that the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other multilateral donors kept a close watch on Pakistan’s budgetary deficit. “If it expands beyond the estimates of 4.2 per cent than the country’s international credit rating would suffer and foreign investment affected.”

He said the prices of the kitchen items like onion were on the decline. However, he said, the imports of onion could be made before Eidul Azha in case of imbalance between its supply and demand.

The adviser said the textile exports were once again picking up and the country was recapturing the buyers who had shifted to Bangladesh and India.