ISLAMABAD: The federal government and World Bank have signed a $500 million IDA Development Policy Credit (DPC) for “Competitiveness and Growth” financial agreement on Thursday. Economic Affairs Division Secretary Tariq Bajwa signed the agreement on behalf of the government while WB Acting Country Director Anthony Cholst signed on behalf of the World Bank. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar who witnessed the ceremony, welcomed the signing of agreement and said that the government had embarked upon the much needed economic structural reforms three years ago and had made substantial progress in this regard. Referring to the competitiveness and growth DPC, he said that the financial support provided by the World Bank is meant to improve the business environment and enhance fiscal management; it focuses on simplification and streamlining of the payment of taxes; improvement in governance and transparency of policies to attract private sector investment; and remove entry barriers in the insurance sector. “In terms of enhancing fiscal management, the focus is on withdrawal of discriminatory concessions granted through SROs in the past; improving debt management; and strengthening of social safety net programs, the finance minister added. He said that the Ministry of Finance and the World Bank team had been working together on the DPC for quite sometime and most of the agreed reform measures had already been completed. These reforms would enhance the competitiveness and promote ease of doing business in the country, he assured. The finance minister expressed confidence that Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves would cross $22 billion by the end of this month. Anthony Cholst in his remarks on the occasion congratulated the Pakistan government for making significant progress in stabilising the economy and initiating reforms for greater revenue mobilisation and private sector growth. “I would like to particularly acknowledge and appreciate the efforts of Minister Dar and the economic leadership team for their efforts in continuing reform momentum,” Cholst said, adding that this operation recognises Pakistan’s stepped up reform efforts in the business environment, revenue generation, state owned enterprises, debt management and making public spending more pro-poor. The World Bank Board that met on June 20 lauded Pakistan for pursuing a reform agenda and supported continuation of support to the government in its endeavours. Board members appreciated the progress made in the past three years by the government and highlighted the financial innovation presented by this operation through combining IDA credit and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) Policy Based Guarantee.