Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb hopes that Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will reach a staff-level agreement by mid-July for the next additional credit agreement.
Addressing reporters at the Pakistan Embassy in Washington at the end of his week-long visit to the United States, Aurangzeb said the long-overlooked agenda of economic reforms must be implemented for a healthy economy.
The event was also attended by Pakistan’s ambassador to the US, Masood Khan.
The minister expects the HPG team to arrive in Pakistan in mid-May to finalize the terms of the new loan agreement. “The draft of the new program will be implemented later. In mid-May, we will begin to learn about the specifics of the project,” he said.
He hailed the current Stand-by Arrangement (SBA) as a success and expressed hope that the final tranche of $1.1 billion will be released shortly after HPG’s executive board approves it at the end of April. HPG said the executive board will review the Pakistan SBA at a meeting scheduled later this month.
“Clear the direction of economic reform. The ball is in our court and we have to work hard. Work is underway to enter the Chinese market. Improving the tax system will increase tax collection. At the same time, we are also digitizing the system of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), ” he said.
Aurangzeb said there was also progress in the privatization of public institutions. The debt on Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) continues to increase the government’s huge debt each year, and the country’s privatization efforts have met with resistance in the past, he said.
The finance minister said that Saudi Arabia will invest $5 billion in Pakistan and the Saudi delegation said that some transactions will be carried out in the coming days. He said that big investors have indicated their investment in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s representative in the US said that he has met representatives of credit rating agencies and investors. He also invited Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs to invest and said that the attitude of the US towards Pakistan has changed.
“Pakistan has a huge potential to invest in the technology sector,” he said.
Khan said the GF has invited its partners Saudi Arabia, China and Turkey as part of a meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors at the International Monetary Fund. The US authorities assured Pakistan of full cooperation, saying that the country would soon receive good news from the HPG and the World Bank.
