ISLAMABAD, Sept 6: The government will spend Rs161 billion for poverty alleviation during the current financial year, official sources said on Wednesday.

The government, they said, has launched a credible poverty reduction programme, and it would spend Rs161 billion during 2002-03. This, they said, amounted to an increase of 20.6 per cent against Rs133.5 billion spent during 2001-2002.

According to the latest official document, prepared by the ministry of finance, key macroeconomic indicators had registered marked improvement in 2001-2002.

It stated that industrial production averaged 6.5 per cent in 2001-02. The same averaged 3.9 per cent during 1990-99.

Overall fiscal deficit, which averaged seven per cent of the gross domestic product over the last two decades has now been reduced to 4.9 per cent of the GDP in 2001-2002 and is projected to decline further to 4.4 per cent in 2002-2003, the document further stated.

Workers’ remittances, it stated, showed a remarkable increase as it rose to $2.3 billion during 2001-2002, which is on the same level seen during 1980s.

Foreign exchange reserves, the document stated, currently stood at $7.6 billion against $1.6 billion in October 1999 and that today nobody talks about default.