ISLAMABAD: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has sympathized with Pakistan for the losses caused by the recent floods across the country and assured of fund’s support.
The assurance was made by IMF’s Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department Jihad Azour in his meeting with Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Mohammad Ishaq Dar. They also discussed the implementation of the IMF programme, according to press statement received here on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the finance minister also met with United Kingdom’s Minister of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Ms. Vicky Ford and thanked her government for financial support and assistance to meet the challenges posed by floods.
He also appreciated the trade concessions afforded to Pakistan and other developing countries under the Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS).
Minister Vicky Ford assured of the United Kingdom’s continued support for Pakistan during this difficult period. The two sides discussed ways to further deepen bilateral development cooperation.
Dar led Pakistan’s delegation to the high level round table on Pakistan’s floods – impact and response, co-chaired by Vice President World Bank, Martin Raiser and UK Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Nigel Casey.
The Finance Minister reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to implement the ongoing IMF program along with highlighting the economic priorities of the government in his interviews to Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, AP and AFP and in a subsequent evening engagement at the Pakistan house with senior representatives of various think thanks and US media.
The round table was attended by all major bilateral and multilateral development partners and donors. Initial findings of Pakistan’s post-disaster need assessment jointly prepared by the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, UNDP, European Union and the Government of Pakistan were presented in the round table.
In his concluding remarks, Finance Minister emphasized the need for providing adequate support to Pakistan to meet the challenges of recovery and rehabilitation.
The Finance Minister along with Minister for Economic Affairs Sardar Ayaz Sadiq also attended the 2022 Annual Plenary of the IMF / World Bank.
The delegation members met senior representative of UNCTAD and participated in several events being held on the sidelines of the Annual Meetings including meeting the leadership of the US Pakistan Business Council and representatives of major US multi-national companies operating in Pakistan.
The Finance Minister is leading Pakistan’s delegation in the IMF / World Bank’s 2022 Annual meetings being held in Washington DC. Other delegates include Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs, Dr. Aisha Ghaus Pasha, Minister of State for Finance and Revenue, Jameel Ahmed, Governor State Bank of Pakistan, Hamed Yaqoob Sheikh, Finance Secretary, Kazim Niaz, Secretary Economic Affairs Division and Ali Tahir, Additional Secretary, Finance Division.
The minister had another meeting with Chief Executive Officer Saudi Fund for Development (SFD), Sultan Abdul Rehman Al Murshid during which he conveyed Pakistan’s deep gratitude for the support provided by Saudi Arab to Pakistan at all times and welcomed the forthcoming visit of SFD team to Pakistan. CEO SFD assured of SFD’s continued support to Pakistan, the statement added.
Meanwhile, United States Assistant Secretaries, Ramin Toloui and Donald Lu called on Finance Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar at Pak Embassy to express solidarity with Pakistan over devastating floods and assure continued US support for Pakistan’s relief and recovery efforts. Other issues of mutual interest were also discussed, the statement added.
