Pakistan will get assistance in these trying times of floods and economic uncertainty if the International Monetary Fund and other donors allow for policy support to the country, said the Minister for Finance and Revenue Ishaq Dar.

According to a press statement received by WealthPK, the minister spoke to a meeting of ministers for finance of MENAP (Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, and Pakistan) in Washington DC. Central bank governors of these countries and the IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva were also present in the meeting.

He highlighted the devastation caused by the recent floods in Pakistan and said that the Fund needed to revisit its policy towards Pakistan and the attending countries. He said that the political, economic, social, and environmental conditions of the countries in the meeting required a relaxed approach from the Fund and other international donors.

He appreciated the new IMF instruments Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST) and Food Shock Window under Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) to support countries facing socio-economic challenges.

He assured the Fund manager that Pakistan will complete the program of IMF and meet all of its policy directives. He thanked the director for her good wishes and positive sentiments for the people of Pakistan and the region in these trying times.

Kristalina Georgieva highlighted the challenges faced by regional countries including challenges from climate change events citing Pakistan’s damaging floods. She told the minister that IMF stands with Pakistan in her difficult times and will not shy away from extending any support needed by the country.

On the sidelines of the IMF-WB meetings, the State Bank of Pakistan governor Jameel Ahmad met with the Queen Maxima of the Netherlands. He discussed with her the financial issues of the country and steps being taken by the central bank to bring more and more people into the financial net.

The two sides reiterated their commitment to work together to achieve rapid progress in the areas discussed. Ishaq Dar also met Director General of Kuwait Fund Marwan Abdullah Yusuf Thunayan Al- Ghanem. The minister appreciated the contribution of Kuwait Fund to Pakistan’s economic development and discussed the ongoing projects and the potential new areas of investments.

Dar also met with the President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Masatsugu Asakawa on the sidelines. He appreciated the efforts of the ADB in the economic development of Pakistan and said that Pakistan is doing its best to recover from the hard climactic and economic situation.

The ADB president assured the finance minister of approval of the BRACE programme amounting to USD 1.5 billion and of continued support to Pakistan. The minister also met his Libyan counterpart Khaled Al-Mabrouk and both ministers discussed issues of mutual interest. 

The efforts of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) were also lauded by the minister in his meeting with the Managing Director Makhtar Diop. He said that the efforts of the commission were instrumental in developing the private sector of the country. He said that there is a need for an increase in the engagement of the IFC with the private sector of Pakistan so that more result-oriented solutions could be provided. He said that the government will do its best to help IFC liaise with the private sector of the country.

The message of enhanced engagement was reciprocated by Makhtar Diop. He told the minister that Pakistan needs to do a lot in its policy and implementation domain to make full use of the resources of the IFC.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk