DAVOS, Jan 28: The Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said Friday that his country should achieve seven per cent growth this year, up from last year, and promised to pursue privatizations and structural reforms.

At a breakfast meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos the premier said that "nothing is taboo" in terms of privatization. "This year we expect growth to reach about seven per cent of GDP," or gross domestic product, he said. Last year it was 6.4 per cent.

That is in line with Pakistan's five-year goal of annual growth of between six and eight per cent. While average per capita income had risen to some $700, he said the government still had to do more to help millions below that level.

Aziz pointed to the upcoming privatization of the state-run telecom company and said the oil sector would follow. "We have a lot of interest from all over the world," he said, adding that "these taboos (about privatizing state assets) have to be challenged." Citing the banking sector, he said 85 per cent of it was already in private hands, and that he wanted to increase that to 100 per cent. -AFP