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Shaukat Azia receives his award from Euromoney’s editor |
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At a gala dinner in Karachi in January Euromoney finally managed to present the finance minister of the year award for 2001 to Pakistan’s Shaukat Aziz.
Usually the presentation takes place at the annual IMF/World Bank meetings, which were cancelled in the wake of the terrorist attacks in the US. Catching up with Aziz hasn’t been easy. Since winning the award in recognition of his efforts to institute economic reform in Pakistan – cutting budget deficits, improving tax collection, strengthening the banking system, liberalizing foreign exchange controls, boosting exports, rebuilding foreign currency reserves, re-establishing relations with the multilaterals, pushing forward privatization – Aziz’s schedule has become even more hectic.
He clinched a key poverty reduction and growth facility from the IMF in December, followed by a comprehensive renegotiation of Paris Club debts. He’s been travelling the world negotiating grants and improved trade terms with governments to help an economy hit by the Afghanistan conflict.
At the dinner Aziz looked back over a turbulent two years. “When I arrived I did not realize how low Pakistan’s credibility was. It was hard to get people’s attention or be taken seriously,” he says. “Gimmicks wouldn’t get us where we wanted to go. We had to go to the core of the problems. We adopted a broad and holistic reform agenda.”
Tensions with India are a concern, but there is hope that Pakistan will feel the benefit of Afghanistan’s reconstruction.
Aziz is not complacent. “Do we have problems? Plenty. But do we have opportunities? Plenty. All we need is direction and the conviction to last the course.”
