ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin has said the third wave of Covid-19 is particularly challenging as Pakistan is going for an aggressive smart lockdown to curtail the spread of virus across the country.
He said this in his virtual meeting with Hartwig Schafer, vice president South Asia region, World Bank Group at the Finance Division on Friday.
Federal Minister for Energy Muhammad Hammad Azhar, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Division Omar Ayub Khan, SAPM on Finance and Revenue Dr Waqar Masood, Finance Division secretary, Power Division secretary and other senior officers participated in the meeting.
In his opening remarks, the vice president of World Bank expressed concerns over resurgence of Covid-19 pandemic during the third wave in South Asia and the alarming increase in the number of active infections and corresponding fatalities.
Finance Minister Tarin informed that to curtail spread of Covid-19, the government of Pakistan is going to impose strict lockdown.
While reviewing the progress on ongoing World Bank’s projects and programmes, the Power Division secretary underlined that Pakistan is pursuing policy of targeted subsidies in the power sector. The government is firmly committed to subsidy rationalisation (in phases) for bringing efficiency and improving service delivery, he added.
In his concluding remarks, Tarin said that the government’s focus would be on socio-economic development, better financial management, building resilient institutions, reforming energy sector, strengthening social sector and enhancing revenue generation during these testing times, he added.
The World Bank appreciated the government’s relief initiatives to curtail the impact of Covid-19 effectively and reiterated continuous support to the government and people of Pakistan during the ongoing third wave.
