Pakistan Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb discussed progress on economic reforms during Tuesday’s meeting with Ajay Banga, the president of the World Bank Group.
According to a stateme by the finance ministry, Aurangzeb—on a trip to Washington to attend the meetings arranged by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank—highlighted Pakistan’s progress under the IMF’s 9-month Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) and ongoing reforms in priority areas of taxation, energy, and privatization.
The statement added, “Both sides agreed on the need for a rolling Country Framework Plan for 10 years.”
The ongoing $3-billion SBA program was inked last year in the summer and will expire this month. Pakistan is expected to receive the final tranche of $1.1 billion in April.
Islamabad has also initiated discussions with the global lender over a new multi-billion dollar loan agreement to support its economic reform programme.
Meanwhile, the World Bank President assured his full support for Pakistan’s reforms and digitalization programmes to stabilize the economy and enhance revenues. Moreover, the Finance Minister invited the World Bank President to visit Pakistan.
Aurangzeb also met Masatsugu Asakawa, President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), on Tuesday.
The statement read, “Discussions focused on further strengthening Pakistan’s partnership with ADB, protecting the country’s envelope of concessional financing, and preparing for future project pipelines.”
The finance minister also met with CEO Scott Nathan of the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).
The statement read, “During the meeting, they explored ways to expand DFC’s investments in Pakistan following the amicable resolution of outstanding issues.”
“The minister informed us that the government was encouraging innovative financing models to leverage private sector investment and the potential of Public-Private Partnership (PPP).”
Aurangzeb assured that the government remains committed to extending all possible support to investment initiatives by any local/ foreign investors in Pakistan.
