Daily Times

Advisor on Finance Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, while addressing a news conference along with Minister for Economic Affairs Hammad Azhar and Chairman FBR, Shabbar Zaidi in Islamabad on Tuesday (Dec 3) said that economic indicators have shown significant improvement in last five months and are being acknowledged by international financial institutions.

During the press conference he also said that current account deficit reduced by 35 percent last year and has seen more improvement in the last five months. Dr. Hafeez Shaikh said portfolio investment and Foreign Direct Investment are also seeing upward trajectory.

He said World Bank’s President during his visit to Pakistan appreciated the economic performance. He also indicated to further improve relations of the bank with Pakistan. Advisor on Finance said Asian Development Bank, which is one of the biggest development partners of Pakistan, has increased its financing to Islamabad by 3 billion dollars after seeing the progress.

Shaikh said, International Monetary Fund (IMF) team during its visit reviewed the economic performance and expressed satisfaction on not only meeting the targets but also surpassing these. Consequently, they recommended their board to release the 500 million dollar tranche to Pakistan on immediate basis.

Dr. Hafeez Shaikh said world renowned rating agency Moody’s has upgraded Pakistan’s credit rating from negative to stable. He said the whole world gets the knowledge that the economic reforms process in Pakistan is well on track and is being appreciated by international financial institutions.

Its worth mentioning here that, earlier, Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”) on Monday (Dec 2) affirmed the Government of Pakistan’s local and foreign currency long-term issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings at B3 and changed the outlook to stable from negative.