Quake Not To Hurt Pakistan Growth: PM

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

Shaukat Aziz

Islamabad (AFP) Nov 14, 2005
Pakistan's economic growth will survive the massive devastation caused by last month's South Asian earthquake, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said in an interview published Monday.

Growth in the fiscal year to June 2006 will slow only slightly as rebuilding work starts in the disaster zone, staying close to the pre-quake government target of 6.4 percent, Aziz told the Wall Street Journal.

Aziz, who is also finance minister, said the quake's economic impact was limited because it struck one of Pakistan's poorest areas, where most people live as susbsistence farmers and where there was little industry to destroy.

Former Citibank executive Aziz oversaw record 8.4 percent growth in Pakistan's gross domestic product last year, as well as cutting the budget deficit and piling up foreign exchange reserves of 12 billion dollars.

There had been fears that the quake -- which killed 74,000 people, seriously injured more than 69,000 and left more than three million homeless -- would affect the economy's recent recovery from stagnation.

The World Bank and Asian Development Bank estimate Pakistan will neeed more than 3.5 billion dollars to rebuild quake-hit towns and villages, and 1.6 billion dollars for relief efforts.

The Islamic republic has received pledges for less than half those sums and there are hopes that an international donors conference in Islamabad on Saturday will help boost foreign aid.

"We are satisfied with the response but we want more," Aziz told the Journal.

The World Bank also predicted last week that the devastation will not significantly dent growth, saying the damage to the economy would not be more than 0.3 to 0.4 percent of total output.

Pakistan's economy has recovered from the doldrums of the 1990s partly because of its support for the US-led "war on terror" after the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

The country has seen an influx in foreign aid and had large loans waived by the international community in exchange for Pakistan's help in battling Al-Qaeda-linked militants.

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DISASTER MANAGEMENT

Harsh Winter Arrives In Quake-Hit Areas

Islamabad (AFP) Nov 11, 2005
Pakistan on Friday officially declared the onset of "harsh" winter in areas devastated by last month's massive earthquake as the government struggled to provide shelter to survivors, officials said.

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