US ambassador calls on Ishaq Dar

ISLAMABAD: US Ambassador Richard G Olson on Saturday called on Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar here and discussed issues of mutual interest.
Ambassador Olson was accompanied by the US Embassy’s Economic Counsellor Daniela Ballard, said a Finance Ministry press release.
Both sides exchanged views on the schedule of meetings of the Pak-US Working Group on Economy and Finance as well as Trade & Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) Council. They agreed that these events had great significance in furthering the Pak-US economic cooperation and agreed that the schedule of both the meetings would be decided with mutual consultations.
Pakistan will host the Working Group meeting while the TIFA would likely be held in the United States.There was also discussion on the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank annual meetings scheduled to be held in Lima, Peru in October 2015.
The minister briefed the US ambassador on the budget proceedings in parliament and said that the government had accommodated maximum number of suggestions and recommendations of the parliamentarians and other stakeholders to finalise the budget 2015-16.
The government, he said, believed in passing the budget with a consensus of all political parties.Secretary Finance Dr. Waqar Masood, Additional Secretary, Tariq Mahmood Pasha and Joint Secretary, Awais Manzoor were also present in the meeting.