Statement by Dr. Asad M. Khan, Minister Pakistan Permanent Mission to the United Nations on Agenda Item 51: Macroeconomic Policy Questions under its sub agenda Items (b): International Financial System, (c): External Debit Crisis and Development and (d): Commodities (New York, 13 October 2009)

Mr. Chairman,

At the outset, my delegation wishes to align with the statement made by the representative of Sudan, on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

We thank the Secretary General for his useful reports covering the issues before us under this agenda.

Mr. Chairman,

The Outcome of the United Nations Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development provides us the framework, direction and timelines for actions needed to mitigate the impact of the crisis and to address systemic and structural weaknesses of the global financial and economic architecture.

The establishment of the Open Ended Working Group of the General Assembly to follow up on the actions agreed to in the Conference Outcome is indeed a welcome development.

We look to the Working Group starting its work at the earliest to quickly follow through on the commitments made at the Conference. My delegation is particularly keen to see early action on the following decisions:

Mr. Chairman,

On the systemic and structural reform issues, the need to further review the workings of both IMF and the World Bank has also been fully acknowledged in the Outcome Document. Enhancing the voice and participation of the developing countries in these institutions, and other standard setting bodies, has also been underscored.

Clearly, the UN Conference has provided a number of openings to start a dialogue on redesigning the global financial and economic architecture, and on what principles should lead and guide the process. The Outcome Document and the elements considered in it provide useful pointers, on where and how far, we can go.

Important progress has also been made on the initiative of the G-20 in reforming the international financial system and in mitigating the impact of the financial crisis.

The Secretary General’s report has also made a number of important suggestions, some building on the decisions of the UN Conference for specific actions that should be taken to bring about the much needed economic recovery and stability through reform of the global economic and financial system including debt, commodity and trade frameworks.

Pakistan believes that the redesign of the global economic and financial governance architecture should be underpinned by the following principles:

First, the new architecture should be UN inclusive. We believe that close UN engagement in the reform process would signify global participation and legitimacy.

Second, the right to have a voice and representation should be built around and driven by the imperatives of need and equity.

Third, the new compact for development, growth and prosperity should be premised on a people-centric approach, based on a mix of policies designed to ensure the welfare and well being of people.

And lastly, it should be based on a carefully crafted balance between the role of governments, markets and civil society.

Mr. Chairman,

The continuing volatility in commodity markets has underlined the shared interest of all countries in ensuring that commodity markets do not become a source of global macroeconomic instability and social and political upheaval. This requires the international community to put commodities back at the centre of international development agenda and to:

Linked with the commodity issue is the unfair nature of global agricultural trade, as agricultural products are the main exports of developing countries. For developing countries, the problem lies in the North’s continued high protection through subsidies and tariffs. These two issues need to be addressed for achieving IADGs including MDGs as well as for establishing a fair international economic order.

Mr. Chairman,

As with others, the financial crisis has also impacted Pakistan’s economy in more than one way. To mitigate the effects of the crisis, Pakistan took various concrete steps, focusing on the scale, depth and intensity of crisis on different segments of the economy.

Especially, steps were taken to broaden the export base and achieve regional diversification of trade. Government also embarked on conserving the resources available by curtailing non-development expenditures and prioritizing development activities.

On account of these important policy measures, Pakistan’s economic situation has improved considerably with enhanced foreign exchange reserves, improved credit ratings, declining fiscal and trade deficit, declining inflation and current account balances, rising remittances and FDI, rebounding stock markets and resurging consumer confidence.

Pakistan is also one of the few wheat producing countries where output this year has increased contrary to the trend seen globally.

No small achievement for a time such as this.

Mr. Chairman,

In concluding, we pledge our commitment to work with the international community, in the context of the work of the Open-ended Working Group, to secure the early implementation of the decisions taken at the UN Conference to mitigate the impact of the global economic and financial crisis and the reform of the global financial architecture.

I thank you Mr. Chairman.