ISLAMABAD: A finance division spokesman has strongly contradicted a report titled: “World Bank ends budgetary support program for Pakistan”. A section of media carried the report on 25th September and it said that the World Bank (WB) had suspended program loans/budget support and disqualified the Pakistan for IBRD eligibility.
The spokesman said that this report is totally incorrect. In fact, there is no such suspension of support from the World Bank. Instead, the Government of Pakistan and the World Bank continue to remain actively engaged on an ongoing basis on various projects and programs including policy-based lending support within the framework of Country Partnership Strategy 2015-19 of the WB.
The spokesman said that despite challenges, the macroeconomic conditions in the country remain stable. FX reserves as on September 22nd, 2017 were $ 20.051 billion while State Bank’s (SBP) reserves were $ 14.133 billion adequate to cover about 3 months of imports well above the threshold defined by the WB for IBRD eligibility. Therefore the question of suspension of IBRD support does not arise at this point in time. Last two months economic data show a strong comeback of economic performance as exports increased by 17.9 per cent, remittances by 13 per cent, tax revenue by 21.5 per cent, and FDI by 154.9 per cent. With these positive trends strengthening in coming months, the overall macroeconomic condition will improve substantially.
