ISLAMABAD, Oct 17: President General Pervez Musharraf has said that the government stands resolute to help alleviate the sufferings of quake victims. The president on Monday was speaking to the managing director (MD) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Rodrigo de Rato, who along with three senior-level members of his team called on him.

“A massive effort has already been mounted to provide needed relief to the affected people of the NWFP and Azad Kashmir and the government is simultaneously charting out plans to rehabilitate infrastructure and resettle people,” the president told the IFM team.

An official announcement said that President Musharraf greatly appreciated the generous response of the international community and thanked the friendly countries for their moral and material support.

About economic development, Mr Musharraf said it was an avowed objective of the government to distribute the benefits of recent economic gains in an equitable manner to reduce the discrepancies in income levels of various strata of society.

He said the government was pursuing a social intervention package, including supply of clean water, rural health care and micro-finance facilities to improve the quality of life of the lower income groups.

The president also emphasized that the government is focussed on attracting investment to achieve these objectives as soon as possible.

Rodrigo de Rato expressed his profound sympathies with the people and government of Pakistan over the devastation.

He appreciated the government’s rapid response to this natural calamity and also commended the spontaneous efforts, which the citizens of Pakistan have mounted to mitigate the suffering of affected population of NWFP and Azad Kashmir.

Discussing Pakistan’s economic situation, he opined that Pakistan had made remarkable economic progress in the past half decade and attended one of the made good progress on structural reforms and lauded government’s resolve to carry forward the reform process in the future.