Floods may mar IMF-set targets: Qureshi

Updated at: 1136 PST, Saturday, September 25, 2010 NEW YORK: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has feared that it may be hard for Pakistan authorities to meet IMF-set targets due to the worst devastations wreaked by deluge, Geo News reported Saturday. Addressing a mass gathering of think-tank in New York, Qureshi worried that Pakistan authorities guaranteed IMF of bringing reforms in many sectors but the dismal situation emerged following worst spate of deluge, it appears second to impossible for them to meet the IMF targets. “Finance Minister Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh visited IMF officials in Washington some weeks ago to discuss the said worries”, he maintained, adding, a delegation will meet IMF officials next month for finding a way out in this wake. “Now, the government will have to devise new plans by sorting out its priorities given the havocs inflicted by floods”, he proposed. Discussing fast sliding support of Taliban in country, he said, they are no longer popular among public in Pakistan after their brutalities made people think otherwise. con