From Jang:
KARACHI: The Federal Finance Minister, Senator Shaukat Aziz said on Wednesday that the size of the national economy would cross the $100 billion mark by the end of June 2004.
While addressing a well attended meeting of the main investors of the stock exchanges and top bankers of the country at the trading hall of the Karachi Stock Exchange he said:
“Now we have confirmed figures that this year the GDP growth rate would exceed 6.5 per cent”.
He said the 6.5 per cent GDP growth rate is the highest in the region and by the Grace of God we would achieve around 8 per cent GDP growth rate during the next 3 years. While praising the performance of the KSE he said that the per capita income has also increased to $600 too.
“The detailed review of the per capita income would be released in the forthcoming budget documents,” he said
This was the 11’th visit of the finance minister to the KSE since his assumption of the office of finance minister.
Shaukat said that Pakistan has been rated as the best issuer of international capital bond after the successful launch of the Euro bond.
He said by the end of December 2004, we would quit from the poverty reduction and growth programme of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
He said: “In fact last month I told the Managing Director of the IMF that we are leaving the IMF. Pakistan would be the first country which would be quitting from the PRGP Programme in the entire history of the IMF.”
By launching the Euro Bond we gave a message that we have reached such levels that we could raise the required capital from the international capital markets, he said.
He said the coming federal budget we would be focussing on such FDIs that would rise investments in export oriented industries like that of the Far Eastern countries.
However, he said the level of FDI would be crossing the levels of $1 billion this year.
The CBR would scrap many unwanted things in the budget, like the submission of returns or forms which has been outdated and in this regard he particularly mentioned submission of form “S” by manufacturing industries of the country to the tax authorities.
He expressed the hope that with the start of the National Commodity Exchange, the agriculture sector would get the requisite boost and with the passage of time, the numbers of commodities, to be traded on this exchange would be enhanced and one day it might be rated alongside the Chicago Commodity exchange of the US.
To ensure the availability of wheat during the next season ‘we would import 1 million tones of wheat,’ he said
Quashing ‘gossips’ with regard to the WTO he said in January 2005 the only thing, which will happen, would be scrapping of the textile quotas. Earlier, Chairman KSE Arif Habib presented the pre-budget proposals of the KSE and the managing director of the KSE; Moin Fudda presented the performance KSE’s performance.
Thats ace. 
