
ISLAMABAD:
Minister for Finance Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar said Monday that
Pakistan supports a peaceful and stable Afghanistan for the economic
development and well being of people of the two countries.
Speaking
to Ambassador Beth Jones, Principal Deputy Special Representative for
Afghanistan and Pakistan, US Department of State who called on him here,
the Finance Minister underscored the importance of a trusting and
mutually beneficial relationship saying that the relationship has
improved considerably in recent months.
He also expressed the hope that the cooperation in economic and energy sectors will be increased further.
Ishaq
Dar informed the Ambassador of Pakistan's contribution in different
development projects undertaken in Afghanistan and hoped that these will
contribute to socio-economic well being of the people of Afghanistan.
The
Finance Minister also briefed the Ambassador on key economic reforms
the present government has embarked upon and said that major economic
indicators have already started reflecting marked improvements.
The
Minister said that when the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz came into
power the country as confronted with bigger challenges than in the past.
But the leadership, without wasting any time charted out an economic agenda to deal with these issues.
The
Minister said that we have paid Rs.500 billion of circular debt and
have added 1700 MW of power into the system. He said that the industrial
sector has reacted very positively to the reforms and its performance
is way ahead of our expectations.
He added that the government has a very clear roadmap to increase the growth rate to a satisfactory level.
Ambassador
Beth Jones briefed the Minister on her meetings with other officials
and appreciated the economic performance of Pakistan.
She
expressed her satisfaction at the close coordination between the two
countries during the recently held strategic dialogue in Washington DC.
She hoped that with the prudent policies of the government, the country will come out of the economic problems.
Ambassador
Jones also expressed her sympathies for the loss of precious human
lives in today's terrorist attack at the District Court Complex
Islamabad.