Moreover, the minister said the election of President Pervez Musharraf would pave the way for stabilisation of the economy, and have a positive impact on the overall investment scenario. He declared the LFO resolution as a historic day in country's political history.
Speaking further on the NEC, Shaukat Aziz said prior to that the economic ministers would hold a review and the Executive Council for National Economic Council (Ecnec) would meet on January 7 to approve development projects to be undertaken.
The minister said these meetings would ensure the momentum of the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP), adding normally, the spending sped up by the end of the year to exhaust the funds for buying costly material to show high rate of using funds. Prime Minister would be briefed about the growth of the projects, he said.
He also said the preparation for the National Finance Commission (NFC) on January 18-19 is also under way whereas Punjab has submitted its revenue and expenditure projects, and other provinces are in process of completing their figures.
The minister said to settle the issue of hydel profit, the government has decided to set up an arbitration committee comprising three selected members out of nine nominations (three each from Wapda, NWFP and the federal government).
He said the tax collection has reached Rs 224 billion and would touch Rs 226 billion, whereas the forex reserves have reached $12.14 billion as of December 31, 2003. The share index was 67.7 percent higher than last year and market capitalisation grew by 63.8 percent during the calendar year 2003, he said, adding Pakistan could be among few leading world equity markets.
The issuance of Eurobonds is in process and road shows would be held in February, said the minister, adding the government would also hold a ceremony to repay $1 billion costly debt in the coming weeks.