Pakistan has considerably reduced its foreign debt-servicing burden, Economic Advisor Dr. Ashfaq H. Khan said. Addressing Pakistani press officers posted abroad, who are currently attending a consultative conference organized by the External Publicity Wing of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in Islamabad, Khan underlined the importance of the reduction in foreign debt servicing and said there was a time when Pakistan used 6.6 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on loan repayment. Giving an overview of the economic progress, the advisor said fiscal discipline, deregulation, pro-investment policies, consistency, debt limitation, and sound economic management had produced robust upward trends. Khan said the ratio of tax, trade, investment and savings to the GDP showed that the economy was growing at a fast pace. He said the economic reforms introduced by the government had stabilized the exchange rate and attracted over 3 billion dollar direct foreign investment in the last financial year. All financial resources were being used in the right direction, he said, adding that a solid base for economic expansion had been laid. Khan said strong domestic demand for goods not only helped sustain increased growth rate but also paved way for reducing unemployment, poverty, fiscal deficit and foreign debt. The advisor said Pakistan had re-entered the international debt capital markets by successfully launching new 10-year and 30-year 144A sovereign bonds, which reflected confidence of investors in the government's economic policies. To illustrate increased economic activities, he said the private sector had borrowed over 1,100 billion rupees from banks in less than 3 years to expand their operations across Pakistan. The Advisor said the per capita income had gone up to 847 dollars showing an increase of 14.2 per cent in last three years. Remittances at around 4.5 billion dollars continue to remain one of the largest sources of external finance for the country, he noted. Khan said poverty has been reduced to 29.9 per cent from 34.46 per cent and fiscal deficit brought down to 3.4 per cent from 7 per cent in the last 3 years, he said.
