In light of the country’s losses and the tragedy brought on by climate change, federal minister of finance and revenue Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar has appealed for increased policy support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and multilateral donors.
The minister was speaking in front of the managing director of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, and other MENAP (Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, and Pakistan) ministers of finance and central bank governors in Washington, DC.
He urged the IMF to consider the serious economic, social, and political challenges that these nations face in the context of climate-related disasters in order to tailor its response to the situation in Pakistan and similar nations.
He emphasized the country’s losses and the humanitarian tragedy. He begged for increased policy support for Pakistan given the severity of the disaster.
He praised the Rapid Financing Instrument’s (RFI) Food Shock Window and Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST) new tools for supporting nations.
According to a press release we received on Sunday, he also expressed gratitude to MD IMF for her words and promised to finish the Fund program despite difficulties.
At the time, the IMF’s managing director highlighted issues affecting regional economies, such as those caused by climate change events, citing the destructive floods in Pakistan. She extended her sincere condolences to Pakistan and pledged the Fund’s unwavering support.
On the sidelines of the IMF-WB annual meetings, the minister and governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, Jameel Ahmed, met with Queen Maxima of the Netherlands to discuss financial inclusion and banking on equality. The two parties reaffirmed their commitment to cooperating to advance the topics under discussion quickly.
Dar also spoke with Marwan Abdullah Yusuf Thunayan Al-Ghanem, director general of the Kuwait Fund. The Minister spoke about current initiatives and potential new investment opportunities while praising Kuwait Fund’s contribution to Pakistan’s economic growth.
The minister met with Masatsugu Asakawa, the president of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and thanked him for his organization’s support over the years as Pakistan’s top development partner and for its recent post-flood commitments.
The ADB President gave the finance minister assurances that the $1.5 billion BRACE program had been approved and that Pakistan would continue to receive support.
The minister also met with Khaled Al-Mabrouk, his counterpart in Libya, and the two dignitaries spoke about matters of common concern.
The minister acknowledged the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) contribution to Pakistan’s private sector development during his meeting with Makhtar Diop, the organization’s managing director.
He also talked about how the IFC may be more involved in Pakistan, particularly with regard to trade finance. He promised that IFC will receive all necessary support in this area.
At the time, Makhtar Diop gave the Finance Minister a guarantee that Pakistan will continue to get funding from IFC.
It is important to note that the Finance Minister is leading Pakistan’s delegation to the Washington, DC-based IMF and World Bank’s 2022 Annual Meetings.
Additional delegates include Dr. Aisha Ghaus Pasha, Minister of State for Finance and Revenue; Jameel Ahmed, Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan; Hamed Yaqoob Sheikh, Secretary of Finance; Dr. Kazim Niaz, Secretary of Economic Affairs Division; and Ali Tahir, Additional Secretary, Finance Division.
