SINGAPORE, Sept 20: Pakistan hopes to benefit from the IMF reforms, as weightage of emerging markets and developing countries increases in the key economic surveillance agency. The focus of the Pakistani delegation, in meetings, was more on narrating the tale of economic success of the country to development partners.
Dr Salman Shah, adviser to the prime minister on finance and leader of the Pakistan delegation to the meeting, was upbeat about the outcome of the meeting. "A more sensitised IMF where the developing world is better represented will be more heedful of our needs so it gels well with our interests," he said in an interview with Dawn after the conclusion of the meeting.
He said members of delegations held a whole array of bilateral meetings with the officials of donors of the last resort. "We got a chance here to meet a number of regional partners and relevant IMF/World Bank officials to discuss issues of mutual interest," he said.
He saw the pledge of member nations to strive to put stalled Doha round of trade talks back on track as a very positive development. "Pakistan is an opening expanding economy and need access to new markets for its rising export surpluses. The current surge of protectionist tendencies poses limit to our access and therefore we favour a level-playing field in trade."
He said there was a growing need to align regional trade agreements such as Asean in Far East or Safta in South Asia with the multilateral WTO. "Ultimately it is going to be the competitiveness of a country that will determine its positioning in trading relationships."
On the issue of governance, Pakistan's delegation leader says the country favours accountability, as high level of corruption saps the country's capacity. However, he said it should be a two-way process and there should be an equal treatment towards everyone and must not be misused as a tool to pressurise capital-starved economies.
"Our objective is to sustain growth in Pakistan in long haul with stable macro economic management by supporting the competitive and efficient private sector and deliver in terms of achieving the millennium development goals," he said.
When asked as to why Pakistan did not put up the position paper on the IMF agenda when some of much smaller countries made their papers available to press, Dr Shah said the delegation was too preoccupied with its engagements and did not see the need for such a paper. Many members of the delegation, especially Dr Shamshad Akhtar, Governor, State Bank of Pakistan, gave out interviews to a number of media outfits in Singapore who were here to cover the event.