WB agrees to lend $1.5b
By Our Special Correspondent

ISLAMABAD—World Bank has expressed its willingness to give $ 1.5 billion loan to Pakistan while $ 300 million investment would be made in the private sector. This decision has been taken in a meeting between Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick at Prime Minister House on Wednesday.
In a joint press conference after the meeting President of World Bank Robert B. Zoellick expressed satisfaction over reforms programme and hoped that upcoming government would continue it.
Commenting on construction of dams in the country, he said that construction of dams was dire need of the hour and the World Bank would support Pakistan after assessing the situation.
He said the Bank had already given $ 10 billion loan and talks have been held with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz for $ 1.5 billion in terms of loans adding that the Bank would invest $ 300 million in private sector. He lauded different steps taken by the government to achieve Millennium Development Goal and World Bank would continue its support to Pakistan till 2015.
He also appreciated steps of the government in education sector and stressed to make educational system more effective. Opportunity of free education given by the Punjab government is a good omen, he maintained. Highlighting the importance of globalization, he said that Pakistan should pay attention for construction of roads, seaports and airports in order to face the challenge of liberalization.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said that World Bank was the friend of Pakistan and its support in field of energy, education, and infrastructure was commendable.
Social, political and economic reforms in the country are underway, he pointed out. He thanked the World Bank support in its assistance for reconstruction and rehabilitation of quake affected areas. He hoped that the country would continue the process of reforms to face the global challenges. We are proud of progress and will continue after getting success in the upcoming general election, he pointed out.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Wednesday said the government has successfully implemented wide- ranging structural reforms and macro-economic policies that have put the economy back on the track of sustainable growth, resulting in poverty alleviation, generating new jobs and improving the standard of living of the people.
It was because of this economic turn around that Pakistan is now considered as one of the fastest growing economies in the Asian region and would continue to sustain a high growth trajectory of over 7% per annum, the Prime Minister added.
He was talking to President of the World Bank, Robert B. Zoellick, who met him here at the Prime Minister House. The Prime Minister said that economic reforms initiated by the government are driven by the philosophy of deregulation, liberalization and privatization.
The central thrust of economic strategy is to create an enabling environment for the private sector to become an engine of growth, he added. The Prime Minister said, “our strategy for improving investment climate in the country is multi-pronged marked by financial sector taxation reforms, dismantling of archaic procedures, better enforcement of civil contracts, documentation of property rights, infrastructure development and above all ensuring consistency and continuity of government policies.
He said that Pakistan has undergone a positive transformation during the last eight years. The progress achieved so far, the Prime Minister added, permits us to gaze into the future and visualize Pakistan as a leading emerging nation of the world. “We have great hopes in our demographic dividend, where 100 million people are below the age of 25.”