Washington, 8 June (AKI/DAWN) - The world’s second fastest growing economy after China is Pakistan, according to a report on Pakistan’s budget by US financial wire service Bloomberg. The report came amid a slew of comments from American observers praising the Pakistani government for its efforts in boosting the Asian nation's development. Pakistan has seen a swift economic turnaround after the Sept 11, 2001, attacks in the United States when it threw its support behind Washington in the war on terror, and in return America and many other countries gave it financial assistance or rescheduled and wrote off its loans, according to US financial magazine, Forbes.
Forbes said Pakistan's prime minister Shaukat Aziz played a key role in “reviving a near-bankrupt economy”.
In a commentary titled ‘Pakistan’s economy posts historic gains,’ the Voice of America said it was quite a turnaround for a country that five years ago nearly defaulted on a series of international loans and now was one of Asia’s five fastest growing economies.
The country’s agriculture and service sectors grew by over seven per cent in the past year and its large-scale manufacturing sector was up 15.4 per cent, it pointed out.
Other commentators noted that the recent budget had been widely welcomed as pro-business, helping the Karachi Stock Exchange enjoy a three per cent rise in trading on Tuesday.
The budget cut a number of business taxes, in addition to dedicating more money for defence and social and development spending, they said.
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