News
Friday, April 02, 2010
Zardari urges WB to finance energy and water projects
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday called upon international donor agencies to support the country’s democratic government to strengthen its economy and help it overcome the energy and water crises.
The president said the democratic government had taken difficult and unpopular decisions for the sake of economic recovery.
He was talking to World Bank (WB) Vice President Isabel Guerrero at the Presidency.
Yusupha B Crookes, WB country director, Thomas Buckley, senior country officer for Pakistan and Satu Kahkonen, the lead economist, were also present in the meeting.
Economic Adviser Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Secretary to the President Malik Asif Hayat and the finance and Economic Affairs Division secretaries were also present.
Zardari called upon the WB to consider financing energy and water projects in Pakistan, adding that crisis in these two sectors were adversely affecting the country’s economy.
The president urged the WB vice president to highlight various economic measures of the Pakistani government before international financial institutions, in order to help solicit greater economic support for the country.
He said the democratic government inherited a feeble economy and its resources had been further drained by the war against militancy.
“It was now the moral obligation of the international community to step forward and help Pakistan compensate its colossal losses, in terms of financial as well as human resources,” the president said.
Isabel Guerrero briefed the president about the WB’s various projects and its financing in the country’s various sectors.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk