ISLAMABAD, Feb 2: President Gen Pervez Musharraf assured the senior officials of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) here on Saturday that various political and economic reforms currently being implemented by his government were irreversible and would continue even after the October elections.

According to official sources, the president told Paul Chabrier, IMF Director for Middle East and South Asia, Klaus Enders, head of the visiting IMF review mission, and Henri Ghesquiere, Fund’s Senior Resident Representative in Islamabad, that necessary legal requirements were being completed to protect all the political and economic decisions of the government, and that these could not be changed nor challenged in any court of law.

He said that the economic reform agenda of his government had been widely appreciated by the bilateral creditors and multilateral agencies, therefore, there was no question of allowing anyone to ‘undo’ the agenda.

The president also pointed out that his government had been taking bold and unpopular decisions with a view to removing distortions from the economy, sources said Gen Musharraf said his government would like to ensure that the development strategy benefited the common man and revive economic growth. The main drivers of the strategy, he added, were agriculture, small and medium enterprises, information technology, oil and gas and social sectors.

The president thanked the IMF for having supported Pakistan, specially through poverty reduction growth facility (PRGF).

Paul Chabrier appreciated the performance of Pakistan economy during the last two years, and said that the country had established credibility among the international financial community by taking hard but much needed decisions in implementing the overdue economic reforms in the country.