Pakistan MSCU historic Ishaq Dar

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance Mohammad Ishaq Dar has termed the re-entry of US based index provider Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCU) in the list of emerging markets as historical and reflective of the right direction of Pakistan’s economy.It has been a good partnership with International Monetary Fund (IMF) and by end of this month the last review with the fund would be held after which there will be no need of another programme with the fund, he said while addressing participants at an event of Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) held to mark the inclusion of Pakistan in the list of emerging markets here.Ishaq Dar said the partner with IMF was excellent and he thanked the fund and its team for helping Pakistan in stabilizing its economy.He said Pakistan was excluded from the prestigious list of emerging markets in year 2008 and after three years of hectic efforts and prudent policies of the present government the country has been able to enter the list which is a historic achievement.He said after three years of efforts the government merged three stock exchanges of Karachi Lahore and Islamabad into one stock exchange called Pakistan Stock Exchange.The Minister attributed this success to the hard work of the present government through its prudent policies and good governance which resulted into the marked improvements in various economic indicators including the best performance of stock exchanges.He expressed the hope that inclusion of Pakistan into emerging markets would help attract huge foreign investment in the country and its fruits would trickle down to the masses.He said the entire world has been recognizing Pakistan s economic improvement and its indicators.He said the foreign exchange would be enhanced to US 22 billion in a few weeks by setting a new record.He said to achieve the tax collection target set for FBR was a difficult task but during the last three years the collection had been increased to 60 per cent.’