PM: Pakistan forex reserves to reach $16bn in 2014

Prime Minister of Pakistan, Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Saturday expressed hope that the country's foreign exchange reserves would be around USD 16 billion by end of this year, said an official press release. In a meeting here with Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of the World Bank, the premier said due to the rational and pragmatic economic and monetary policy of the government, the country's economy had stabilized and was moving ahead in the right direction.PM Nawaz said, "The government had identified the priorities for next five years, including energy and infrastructure sectors. Assistance of World Bank in the priority areas would support Pakistan in achieving its development targets." He added that World Bank could play a major role in supporting the efforts of Pakistan's government in addressing the energy crisis and also appreciated the World Bank's cooperation with Pakistan in social, infrastructure, and water, energy sectors.Indrawati appreciated the economic policies of government and said the economic indicators were positive as Pakistan was striding on path of development. She also assured continued support of the World Bank for development projects, the release added.