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Govt to turn calamity into opportunity: Dr. Hafeez Sheikh
November 15, 2010
ISLAMABAD - Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh Sunday said the government wanted to turn the calamity into an opportunity through reconstruction after the floods.
Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs said this while chairing the two-day Pakistan Development Forum (PDF) meeting that began here Sunday with an agenda of focusing and sharing with the participants and development partners the future development vision of Pakistan for the prosperity of its people.
Opening Pakistan Development Forum (PDF), Dr Sheikh welcomed the delegations from donor countries and organizations and representatives of other donor agencies for participating in the Forum.
Dr. Hafeez said that the main focus of the PDF is on the reforms agenda of Government in social, economic and government sectors, both in the short and medium term.
He said the forum is an opportunity for the Government to chart out its future economic & social strategy and have a dialogue with the donors. The donors, as a result of this dialogue, often re-align their strategies to plan and deliver future economic assistance to Pakistan.
The Finance Minister said that Pakistan is passing through a transitional phase besides facing a number of challenges. He said although the government is utilizing all its available resources to expedite and sustain development process and achieve millenium development goals but recent floods and on going war on terror have made dent on our economy.
Finance Minister told the forum that two new taxes are being imposed to raise funds for rehabilitation and reconstruction activities in the flood affected areas.
He said a one time flood tax is being imposed on the income tax payers under which they will pay ten percent surcharge on their paid income tax. This will help raise twenty eight billion rupees. Similarly he said to generate more funds, one percent Central Excise Duty is being increased.
Referring to Balochistan, Dr. Hafeez Sheikh said it has great potential and offered a number of investment opportunities to the foreign investors especially in mineral and infrastructure development.
He said that the economy is facing a number of problems and the development partners will have to play their due role in achieving sustainable development process.
Abdul Hafiz Sheikh said that Pakistan has made a positive progress after the restoration of democracy and a number of positive developments have been made which will be helpful in the long term development.
Referring to the passage of 18th amendment and the NFC award, he said the process of giving greater share in resources to the provinces have been started.
Senior Advisor to the Punjab Chief Minister, Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khosa highlighted the development strategy and future plans of the provincial government. He said basic focus is being laid on education, health, water and sanitation and improvement of infrastructure with special emphasis on the development of South Punjab.
Khosa said that recent flood had ravaged south Punjab, causing losses worth $3.20 billion. No government is in a position to undertake reconstruction and rehabilitation work alone, he said.
Khosa said Punjab needed 900 million dollars to establish model villages after floods; of them, 700 million dollars are needed for large model villages and $200 million for the smaller ones.
He further informed that the province is bettering taxing system of agricultural income, adding the property tax system has been improved. He said his province has curtailed current expenditures by Rs3 billion.
Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhawa Amir Haider Khan Hoti also briefed the forum about the hazards in the development process and urged the development partners to come forward to bridge the gap of funding to overcome losses caused by recent floods and the on going war against terrorism.
Ameer Haider Khan Hoti said his government doled out Rs18 billion from its funds for infrastructure, adding it is not flood alone but also terrorism that dealt a blow to provinces economy.
Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Awais Ahmad Ghani highlighted the problems of tribal areas and said the government is making efforts to bring the tribal people into the mainstream and transform rural tribal areas into urban ones. He said all these efforts need solid steps from the development partners. Owais Ghani said his provinces needs Rs107 billions during the next 18 months for reconstruction, adding another Rs66 billion are required for social sector and Rs41 billion for infrastructure.
Additional Chief Secretary Fata Habibullah Khan told about the short and medium-term development projects worth $2 billion would be commenced during next nine years. Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Reesani briefed the participants regarding devastation of recent floods and problems in the way of development of the province. He urged international community to provide more funds for the development of the province.Agencies
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah also briefed the Forum regarding development strategy and Sindh government plan for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the flood affected areas. AJK Prime Minister Sardar Atique Ahmed Khan and Acting Governor Gilgit-Baltistan Wazir Baig also briefed the participants regarding their strategies for the development of their respective areas and the problems being faced for sustainable development.
November 15, 2010
ISLAMABAD - Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh Sunday said the government wanted to turn the calamity into an opportunity through reconstruction after the floods.
Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs said this while chairing the two-day Pakistan Development Forum (PDF) meeting that began here Sunday with an agenda of focusing and sharing with the participants and development partners the future development vision of Pakistan for the prosperity of its people.
Opening Pakistan Development Forum (PDF), Dr Sheikh welcomed the delegations from donor countries and organizations and representatives of other donor agencies for participating in the Forum.
Dr. Hafeez said that the main focus of the PDF is on the reforms agenda of Government in social, economic and government sectors, both in the short and medium term.
He said the forum is an opportunity for the Government to chart out its future economic & social strategy and have a dialogue with the donors. The donors, as a result of this dialogue, often re-align their strategies to plan and deliver future economic assistance to Pakistan.
The Finance Minister said that Pakistan is passing through a transitional phase besides facing a number of challenges. He said although the government is utilizing all its available resources to expedite and sustain development process and achieve millenium development goals but recent floods and on going war on terror have made dent on our economy.
Finance Minister told the forum that two new taxes are being imposed to raise funds for rehabilitation and reconstruction activities in the flood affected areas.
He said a one time flood tax is being imposed on the income tax payers under which they will pay ten percent surcharge on their paid income tax. This will help raise twenty eight billion rupees. Similarly he said to generate more funds, one percent Central Excise Duty is being increased.
Referring to Balochistan, Dr. Hafeez Sheikh said it has great potential and offered a number of investment opportunities to the foreign investors especially in mineral and infrastructure development.
He said that the economy is facing a number of problems and the development partners will have to play their due role in achieving sustainable development process.
Abdul Hafiz Sheikh said that Pakistan has made a positive progress after the restoration of democracy and a number of positive developments have been made which will be helpful in the long term development.
Referring to the passage of 18th amendment and the NFC award, he said the process of giving greater share in resources to the provinces have been started.
Senior Advisor to the Punjab Chief Minister, Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khosa highlighted the development strategy and future plans of the provincial government. He said basic focus is being laid on education, health, water and sanitation and improvement of infrastructure with special emphasis on the development of South Punjab.
Khosa said that recent flood had ravaged south Punjab, causing losses worth $3.20 billion. No government is in a position to undertake reconstruction and rehabilitation work alone, he said.
Khosa said Punjab needed 900 million dollars to establish model villages after floods; of them, 700 million dollars are needed for large model villages and $200 million for the smaller ones.
He further informed that the province is bettering taxing system of agricultural income, adding the property tax system has been improved. He said his province has curtailed current expenditures by Rs3 billion.
Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhawa Amir Haider Khan Hoti also briefed the forum about the hazards in the development process and urged the development partners to come forward to bridge the gap of funding to overcome losses caused by recent floods and the on going war against terrorism.
Ameer Haider Khan Hoti said his government doled out Rs18 billion from its funds for infrastructure, adding it is not flood alone but also terrorism that dealt a blow to provinces economy.
Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Awais Ahmad Ghani highlighted the problems of tribal areas and said the government is making efforts to bring the tribal people into the mainstream and transform rural tribal areas into urban ones. He said all these efforts need solid steps from the development partners. Owais Ghani said his provinces needs Rs107 billions during the next 18 months for reconstruction, adding another Rs66 billion are required for social sector and Rs41 billion for infrastructure.
Additional Chief Secretary Fata Habibullah Khan told about the short and medium-term development projects worth $2 billion would be commenced during next nine years. Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Reesani briefed the participants regarding devastation of recent floods and problems in the way of development of the province. He urged international community to provide more funds for the development of the province.Agencies
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah also briefed the Forum regarding development strategy and Sindh government plan for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the flood affected areas. AJK Prime Minister Sardar Atique Ahmed Khan and Acting Governor Gilgit-Baltistan Wazir Baig also briefed the participants regarding their strategies for the development of their respective areas and the problems being faced for sustainable development.
