Talks with IMF in final stage: Asad Umar

F.P. Report

WASHINGTON: Finance Minister Asad Umar has said that the talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were in the last stage and soon the process will be completed.

This he said while addressing to an event organized at Pakistan’s embassy at Washington DC on later Thursday. Finance Minister Asad Umar led the Pakistan and they held meetings on a second day during the IMF/WB spring meetings in Washington DC. The delegation also held a number of bilateral meetings on the sidelines.

In the leadership of Asad Umar, Pakistan’s delegation met with the President of the Asian Development Bank Mr. Takehiko Nakao and apprised him of the current macroeconomic situation in the country. The Finance Minister and Mr. Nakao discussed continuation of Pakistan’s ongoing engagement with the Asian Development Bank. Mr. Nakao appreciated the reform process in the country and assured continued support of the Asian Development Bank.

Earlier, the Finance Minister reviewed the World Bank’s Pakistan portfolio in a meeting with the World Bank team led by Mr. Hartwig Schafer, Vice President for South Asia. They discussed the pipeline of projects as well as the sectors where World Bank could further scale up its interventions in Pakistan.

The Finance Minister also held a meeting with a team of World Bank’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) led by its Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Vijay Iyer, and shared views about the privatization policy of the government and the expansion of public private partnership framework in the country. MIGA team apprised the Finance Minister of its current engagements in Pakistan. They informed that MIGA is now looking to expand its portfolio in the country.

On the sidelines, the Finance Minister also met with the US Treasury. He apprised them about the macroeconomic situation in the country, the reform efforts as well as measures being taken to strengthen the anti-money laundering legal and enforcement framework.

The Finance Minister also held a meeting with his Saudi counterpart, Mr. Mohammed Al-jadaan.  Mr Al-jadaan apprised the Finance Minister of increasing growth momentum of Saudi economy and potential employment opportunities for Pakistani construction workers in Saudi Arabia.