Pakistani PM briefed on economic situation

The fiscal year 2011-12 ended with a growth of 3.7 percent, Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh told Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf while briefing him on the country’s economic situation.

Shaikh said that the 2011-12 fiscal ended with a growth of 3.7 percent, showing an improvement over last three years, reported Associated Press of Pakistan.

The minister said better performance was visible in the decline in inflation rate from 13 percent last year to 11 percent in the year just concluded.

The benefit of decline in international fuel prices, the minister said, had been passed on to the consumers and during the last 45 days the prices of fuel, diesel and kerosene had been brought down three times.

He said that the financial year had also ended with foreign exchange reserves of over $15 billion, in spite of paying back to the IMF $1.2 billion during the year.

The minister said that exports remained strong in spite of global economic crisis and were likely to maintain upward momentum in the 2012-13 fiscal as well.