A view from the top

General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's head of state, spoke to Euromoney's Jules Stewart about the move from economic stabilization to growth, privatization, the elimination of corruption and Pakistan's regional policies

Are you confident that Pakistan will be able to conclude a medium-term loan facility with the IMF?

We feel confident we will for many reasons. We have met the targets on the reforms and restructuring that we promised the IMF. The best evidence is that last year we reduced our fiscal deficit by more than 1%, which is better than the target we had originally set. This is a major achievement under the circumstances. As we have shown a lot of economic and fiscal discipline I feel there is no reason why the IMF should not agree to grant us a PRTF.

You are now moving from a period of stability to one of growth.