Asad meets IMF, WB officials in Washington

WASHINGTON: Finance Minister Asad Umar has held high-stakes talks with top officials of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) on the sidelines of the annual Spring meetings as the country faces a gloomy economic outlook and rising inflation.

World Bank (WB) President David Malpass met the Umar-led delegation and appreciated the reform process Pakistan has initiated and assured the country of the bank’s continued support, a press release said on Thursday.

The finance minister apprised the WB president of Pakistan’s macroeconomic situation and discussed the country’s ongoing engagement with the bank. The Pakistani delegation comprises State Bank Governor Tariq Bajwa, Finance Secretary Younas Dagha, and Economic Affairs Secretary Noor Ahmed, among others. According to Geo News, the delegation discussed various economic and development projects with Malpass, IMF Executive Director Christine Lagarde, and IMF Deputy Managing Director Tao Zhang, according to embassy officials. The finance minister is expected to further deliberate on the terms of a multi-year support funding from the IMF.

Umar also met IMF’s First Deputy Managing Director David Lipton and spoke about the ongoing negotiations with the fund.Umar also met with Hartwig Schafer, the vice president for South Asia at World Bank, and was scheduled to participate in a talk with the assistant secretary and acting assistant secretary of the US Treasury.

The meetings come in the wake of forecasts from both the WB and the IMF highlighting the need for reforms in Pakistan and predicting a slowing GDP this financial year. The finance minister also held a business roundtable with members of the US-Pakistan Business Council, the statement added. The companies present on the occasion included PepsiCo, Coca Cola, Procter & Gamble, Uber and Facebook.

The companies’ executives expressed their strong interest in Pakistan’s market and shared with the Pakistan delegation their future plans as well as issues where they needed support from the government. The finance minister told them the government is completely focused on easing doing business in Pakistan.