APCC approves Rs 600bn PSDP for 2009-10

[Naveed Yaseen]

* Assef says GDP target fixed at 3.3% against last year’s 5.5%
* Says commission is considering plan for rehabilitation of IDPs

ISLAMABAD: The Annual Plan Coordination Committee (APCC) here on Friday approved allocations of Rs 600 billion for the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP-2009-10) with a focus on agriculture, infrastructure and social sectors.

Talking to reporters, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Sardar Assef Ahmad Ali said the meeting had fixed Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate target at 3.3 percent for 2009-10, while the target was 5.5 percent last year and the actual growth has been estimated around 2 percent. He said the government was focusing on the uplift of the people and socio-economic prosperity of the country.

“Pakistan is blessed with coal deposits of 180 billion tonnes in Thar area in Sindh province, enough to generate electricity for 200 years and achieve self-sufficiency in power generation,” he added.

Assef lauded the role of President Asif Zardari and former Planning Commission deputy chairman Salman Farooqi for establishing a board on Thar coal project.

He said the commission would prepare a business plan to persuade foreign investors to explore the coal deposits through latest technology of “gasification” to generate environmentally friendly electricity.

He said the APCC had also approved the construction of Akodi Dam, a road and an airport in Gwadar.

Plan: To a question, he said the commission was considering a plan for the rehabilitation of internally displaced persons (IDPs) of the NWFP.

He said that development projects are not being approved purely on merit keeping in view their benefit for the people and the country.

He said dictators always neglected agriculture in the past, but whenever a democratic government came to power the sector had always performed well.

He said the APCC had also approved allocations for the Water and Power Development Authority. ijaz kakakhel/app

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