No more foreign aid: gigantic projects to be executed indigenously, says Salmaan

Caretaker Finance Minister Dr Salmaan Shah said on Wednesday that Pakistan was no more an aid-dependent country as "it has been made capable enough" to execute gigantic development projects on its own, without the help of international financial institutions.
Talking to local TV channel, he said that a couple of organisations have been set up to help execute big development projects. Among them, the role of 'Infrastructure Project Development Facility' (IPDF) was to arrange finances for constructing gigantic projects indigenously. The estimated cost of Neelum-Jhelum hydro power project is $1.6 billion.
The per unit price of the project is fixed at 10 paisa per unit. The finances for the project would be generated locally, he said. He said that Sukkuk bonds worth $100 million each year would also be issued for eight years to meet the Neelum-Jhelum power project costs. The shares of Neelum-Jhelum project company would also be floated in the stock market.
The IPDF would also help executing mass transit rail projects in Lahore and Karachi and, gradually, in other cities. It would also facilitate launching of CNG buses project in big cities, linking Pakistan with Central Asian States, and then to Europe. The basic economic dynamics of the country were gaining momentum as the domestic market was expanding fast, and tremendous growth is being recorded in the country's auto sector, food items, etc.
Fiscal deficit, he said, has decreased to 4 percent from 8 percent. The country's debt burden has been brought to half as compared to the decade of 90s. An increase of 11 percent has been recorded in the country's exports. The rupee has been made competitive. Current account deficit has decreased significantly during the first quarter of the current year. Reserves levels are at $16 billion.
Tax collection targets would also be achieved after Eid and elections, Dr Salman said. He said that international investors have thronged Pakistan as they have invested $8 billion this year due to prudent economic policies. Domestic investors have also invested significantly. The size of economy has jumped to $160 billion from just $60 billion in 2000.
GDP growth ratio is seven percent. Investment to GDP ratio is 23.5 percent. CBR revenues are at Rs 1 trillion. In the next five years, privatisation, worth $15 to $17 billion, would be carried out. In the next five years economic growth would be recorded more from rural areas as agriculture products prices are registering phenomenal increase globally.
It will also increase purchasing power of 65 percent rural population, giving boost to the country's economy. Global wheat price has increased to $500 per ton, from 250 per ton, in a short span of time. The increased income of farmers would encourage them to further increase production, thus increasing their purchasing power and giving further boost to the economy, he concluded.