$5b FDI expected

LAHORE—Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance, Dr. Salman Shah Tuesday that Pakistan was expecting foreign direct investment (FDI) worth $ 5 billion during the year 2006-07.
Talking to newsmen at the annual general meeting of Pakistan Society of Development Economists (PSDE) at a local hotel, he said that this amount coupled with foreign remittances worth $ 4.5 billion and assistance from international financial institutions would help government to keep fiscal and trade deficits within reasonable limits. He said that GDP-Debt ratio had come down to 53% due to the efforts of the government. To a question, he ruled out the possibility of devaluation of rupee vis-a-vis dollar and added that only the market forces would determine the value of rupee. He said that the prices of the kitchen items like onion were on decline. However, Dr. Shah said, imports of onion could be made before Eid-ul-Azha in case of shortfall between supply and demand. Responding to another query, he said that the decline in inflation would ultimately lead to decrease in the mark-up rates.—Online