ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb has welcomed successful negotiations with the US Administration leading to a tariff deal.
He expressed these sentiments during a meeting Robert Kaproth, Assistant US Treasury Secretary for International Finance and Counselor Jonathan Greenstein here in Washington DC, where he has arrived to attend the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB).
During the meeting, the Finance Minister highlighted strong economic fundamentals of the country underpinned by the IMF programme. He briefed the Treasury officials about the legislation to regulate virtual assets in Pakistan. He also invited US companies to invest in the oil & gas, mineral, agriculture and IT sectors in Pakistan.
Later in the day, Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb was hosted by the leadership and members of the US-Pakistan Business Council. Speaking on the occasion, the Finance Minister briefed the participants about improvements in the macroeconomic indicators of Pakistan. He also underlined that the private sector has to lead the country.
The Finance Minister reiterated that the Government of Pakistan was conscious of the challenges being faced by the businesses and working to provide maximum relief. He highlighted the trade deal negotiated with the US authorities, saying he looked forward to enhanced G2G and B2B engagements with US companies in priority sectors including mines & minerals, agriculture, IT, and pharmaceuticals. He concluded the session with a Q&A assuring to address the genuine concerns raised.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb met with representatives of Citi Bank. During the meeting, the Minister acknowledged Citi’s long-standing partnership with Pakistan and appreciated its continued engagement. He also provided an overview of Pakistan’s stabilizing macroeconomic indicators driven by ongoing structural reforms, validated by all international credit rating agencies. He further highlighted Pakistan’s emergence as a growing hub for digital innovation and financial services. Assured that Government would review all proposals presented by the Bank.
Earlier, the Finance Minister began his official engagements of the day with a meeting with Riccardo Puliti, Regional Vice President, IFC for the Middle East, Central Asia, Türkiye, Afghanistan & Pakistan. During the meeting, the Minister highlighted strong macroeconomic indicators of the country.
Senator Aurangzeb appreciated IFC’s partnership with Pakistan, its role in scaling up private sector investment including through multi-billion-dollar investments in support of the 10-year Country Partnership Framework (CPF). He agreed to achieve early financial closure of the IFC’s flagship RekoDiq project. He also welcomed the new regional set-up of IFC with a regional office in Islamabad.
The Finance Minister also held a productive meeting with Dr. Muhammad Sulaiman Al-Jasser, President, Islamic Development Bank (IsDB. The Minister thanked the Bank for its longstanding assistance and support to Pakistan. He reviewed the current portfolio of the Bank projects in Pakistan and underscored the importance of faster project implementation.
Minister Aurangzeb thanked the President ISDB for IsDB board approval of financing of two sections of M-6. He said he looked forward to a continued cooperation in polio eradication efforts of Pakistan and Oil financing facility. Both sides agreed on the need to have a new Country Engagement Framework for Pakistan (CEF).-PR
Reuters adds: Pakistan is poised to sign a preliminary deal on a review of its loan programme with the International Monetary Fund this week, the country’s finance minister said, a key step required to pave the way for another USD1.24 billion payout from the lender.
An IMF mission left Pakistan last week without signing a so-called staff level agreement on the second review of the Washington-based lender’s USD 7 billion Extended Fund Facility and the first one on its USD 1.4 billion Resilience and Sustainability Facility agreed in 2024 to shore up the economy after a severe financial crisis.
“The mission was on the ground for a couple of weeks, we had very constructive dialogue with them around the quantitative benchmarks, the structural benchmarks, and we’ve been having some follow-up discussions,” Muhammad Aurangzeb told Reuters during an interview on the sidelines of the IMF World Bank annual meeting.
“During the course of this week, we’re hoping that we can get the SLA done.”
Countries under IMF lending programmes need to pass regular reviews, which – once signed off by the Fund’s executive board, trigger a payment of the next tranche of IMF funding.
The IMF programme agreed in September 2024 helped shore up then-cash-strapped Pakistan’s USD 370 billion economy that was engulfed in an economic crisis with inflation spiralling to record highs, a rapidly depreciating currency and a bulging external deficit.
Aurangzeb expected the government would launch a green Panda bond – the first one denominated in Chinese yuan for Pakistan – before year-end and return to international markets next year with a bond sale of at least USD1 billion, though details were still to be decided.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
