By IANS
Islamabad : The Pakistani government will double its annual development expenditure from $8 billion to $16 billion with the help of the private sector to improve the country’s crumbling infrastructure.
“We will launch this plan this year as part of a public-private partnership programme and it will be formally incorporated into the budget for 2008-09 from the next financial year,” the Dawn Friday quoted caretaker Finance Minister Salman Shah as saying.
He said the current development programme of about $8 billion would be doubled with the help of local and foreign investors.
The previous government of prime minister Shaukat Aziz had initiated the programme, aimed at pegging the development budget at 10 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) with private sector support as was the practice in countries like Japan and South Korea.
In reply to a question, Shah said that initially local and foreign private funding would be arranged for improving infrastructure, especially railways, roads, public transport, hospitals and universities.
Some projects, he said, had already been initiated in the public-private partnership mode.
According to Shah, the private sector would be encouraged to align with the public sector and all possible fiscal and non-fiscal incentives would be given for this.
The minister said it was becoming difficult for the government to continue providing development funds on its own and it was time to seek the support of the private sector.
“There is a need to put in place a framework, which will be introduced soon to lure investment from outside,” he said.