"We expect a few hundred million US dollars from the Bank for budget making," Hina Rabbani Khar, advisor to the Prime Minister on finance, told Business Recorder. The two sides have geared up to finalise the details before the budget, she said.
Meanwhile, official sources said that Pakistan is likely to get $450-500 million from WB's Food Crises Response Funds. But another official, when contacted, said that the WB assistance for food might be less than 450 million US dollars.
Talking to Business Recorder, the advisor said that Pakistan was happy on the pledges being made by the WB. She said that nothing has so far been finalised. "We are discussing things and I cannot say that how things would finally shape up," she added.
There is commitment for co-operation between the government and the Bank, she remarked. These issues were discussed in the finance ministry and later in a meeting of the Bank delegation with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. The WB delegation was headed by its vice president Praful C Patel, who paid a farewell call on Gilani.
Independent analysts are of the view that Pakistan will get the financial assistance as a loan with a host of stringent conditionalities. They say that it would further increase the debt burden as most of budgetary support lending is provided at market rates. According to them, this would increase Pakistan's indebtedness and will have a further inflationary impact on Pakistan economy. Governor State Bank has already asked the government not to go for lending from domestic sources to keep inflation within limits.
The Bank established Food Crises Response Fund in the wake of ongoing food crises and the government expects that WB would provide the assistance from this fund on concessional rates, the sources said.
Talking to the WB delegation Gilani said that Pakistan values its relationship with its development partners particularly the World Bank which helped Pakistan to invest in infrastructure, health, education as well as to continue the process of economic reforms necessary for the liberalisation of economy.
The Prime Minister appreciated the role of the World Bank in development of Pakistan. He stated that Pakistan's economy is a growing economy and his government would do its utmost to improve the macro-economic profile of the country with a view to achieve an impressive growth rate and above all, better living conditions for the people of Pakistan.
The Prime Minister said that the people have high hopes from the new democratic government which is fully committed to come up to the expectations and would undertake policies focusing on reducing poverty, increasing per capita income, generating more jobs and improving the living standard of the people.
The Prime Minister said that government will soon be introducing prudent economic policies and their successful implementation would be ensured. The formation of Economic Advisory Council is a step in this direction, he added.
The WB vice president affirmed that the World Bank would continue to be a partner in the development of Pakistan and shall provide necessary assistance in the key areas like water and power, infrastructure, education and other social sectors and poverty alleviation. Federal Minister for Finance, Naveed Qamar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Economic Affairs, Hina Rabbani Khar and Secretary Finance Farrukh Qayyum also attended the meeting.