PPP Govt. admits writing letter to IMF praising Musharraf's policies

Islamabad, Jan 27 (ANI): The Pakistan Government has finally conceded that it had written a letter to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but was in denial mode that no memorandum highlighting the economic achievements made during former President Pervez Musharraf's days had been attached to it.

The Leader of the House in the Senate, Raza Rabbani, who had informed the house on Friday that the government had not written any letter to the IMF, slightly changed his position on Monday by accepting that a letter of intent had been written by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Shaukat Tarin, but said there was no attachment with it.

Senator Tariq Azim of PML-Q on this provided a copy of the letter and attached Memorandum on economic and financial policies (MEFP).

Terming the matter as 'too serious', Senator Azim asked the chair to direct Adviser on Finance Shaukat Tareen to explain the situation, the Dawn reported.

He pointed out that the very second paragraph of the letter of intent written to the IMF seeking a loan of 7.6 billion dollars makes it clear that a memorandum on economic and financial policies is attached to it.

To add to the embarrassment for the government, Senator Nisar A Meomn of PML-Q told the House that the copies of the letter and the attached memorandum had been distributed among the members of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance last month.

The memorandum describing recent economic developments reads 'The country's real GDP increased from 60 billion in 2000-01 to 170 billion dollars in 2007-2008, with per capita income rising from under 500 dollars to over 1000 dollars'.

The memorandum, indirectly praising economic policies of Musharraf regime, said: "This strong macroeconomic performance resulted from the implementation of a series of important structural reforms."

"In early 2000s, with financial support from international financial institutions, including the IMF, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, the government expanded the role of markets in the economy, privatised a number of large-state-owned enterprises, established market-based regulatory bodies, and took steps to reduce the cost of doing business in Pakistan," it said' (ANI)