Pakistan is on the rise and pacing up to join the middle income countries group so that the standard of living of the people is improved. This was stated by the Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz while talking to Augustian Carstens, Deputy Managing Director of International Monetary Fund who called on him here on Wednesday. The IMF deputy-managing director congratulated the Prime Minister for successful graduation from the IMF-funded Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility Programme and declared Pakistan as a model for developing countries.

Shaukat Aziz apprised the IMF delegation about the economic progress and said Pakistan is on a high-growth trajectory and expecting to meet or exceed growth target for current financial year.

"Fiscal deficit is on track, our revenue collection is on higher side and international account is well within the manageable limit," the Prime Minister added.

"We are now focusing on infrastructure of our human capital to meet demands of higher growth," he said and added that many of the structural reforms were driven by the government, which are yielding dividends especially in the areas of telecommunication, oil and gas and privatisation.

Augustian Carstens commended the efforts of the government for putting the economy back on track. He also applauded the human resource of Pakistan.

Copyright Associated Press of Pakistan, 2005