LONDON, Feb 14: Former prime minister Shaukat Aziz has claimed that Pakistan today has the capability to absorb “the higher prices on world markets (and, therefore, sees) no reason” why the (economic) record of Pakistan should be jeopardised by any government.

Mr Aziz told The Times that while the economy would be the second headache for the incoming government he was sanguine about it.

Mr Aziz who since his arrival here two months ago has been avoiding on-record interviews to UK-based Pakistani journalists clearly snubbed his country’s media by talking to Bronwen Maddox of The Times.

Maddox said (Economy casts long shadow as Pakistan prepares to vote) although the government subsidised fuel and electricity, Aziz acknowledged that its ability to do so for ever was limited in the face of oil price in the region of $90 a barrel and food prices rising much faster than overall inflation.

According to the writer, rising oil and food prices have proved an unexpected jolt to the economy, which has been one of the strongest reasons for hope as the country battles extremism and violence.

Both main parties -- the conservative Muslim League led by Nawaz Sharif and the People’s Party of the late Benazir Bhutto -- Maddox said have campaigned on a pledge to reduce the costs to poor people, a pledge that Pakistan cannot afford to keep.

Assuming that the elections do go smoothly, there are two shadows hovering. The first is the sheer length of time it may take to form a government. “No single party will get an absolute majority,” Aziz predicted. The second headache was the economy, he admitted.

Yet, according to Maddox, while the Muslim League and the People’s Party have said little about economic policy, they have implied, in courting rural voters, that they will bring prices down. But according to Maddox, the state’s bill to subsidise fuel at the pump is set to reach about Rs150 billion for this fiscal year, even before acting on those promises.

President Musharraf “will be prepared to work with any government that is duly elected,” Aziz told Maddox. He added that it was “up to the new government to settle judicial issues” -- such as the continuing house arrest of the former chief justice and leading lawyers who challenged Musharraf’s military leadership.

Their detention was right, he maintained, adhering to the Musharraf line: “Security matters”.