ISLAMABAD, OCT 16: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Sunday urged the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and multilateral donors to provide greater policy support.
He asked the IMF to tailor its response to the situation in Pakistan and similar countries by taking into consideration the serious economic, social and political challenges that they face amid climate-induced calamities, according to a press release issued by the finance ministry.
Dar made the remarks while addressing a meeting of Menap (Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, and Pakistan) ministers of finance and central bank governors with the IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva.
During the meeting, Goergieva spoke about the challenges regional economies were facing, including those related to climate change, such as the destructive floods in Pakistan. She expressed sympathy with Pakistan and assured the country of the Fund’s full support, the statement added.
For his part, Dar thanked the IMF official for her support and assured Pakistan’s commitment to completing the ongoing programme. “[The] finance minister highlighted the humanitarian catastrophe and losses suffered by the country. Given the scale of disaster, he pleaded [for] more policy support for Pakistan.”
Dar also welcomed new IMF instruments — Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST) and Food Shock Window under Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) — to support countries.
The finance minister, who is on a week-long visit to the US to attend annual meetings of the World Bank and the IMF, had another busy day on Sunday as he held multiple meetings with officials of other countries and international financial institutions.
Separately, Dar, along with State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Jameel Ahmed met Queen Maxima of the Netherlands to discuss financial inclusion and equality in banking.
The two sides reiterated their commitment to work together to achieve fast progress, the finance ministry said in a press release.
In his meeting with Director General of Kuwait Fund Marwan Abdullah Yusuf Thunayan Al- Ghanem, the finance minister appreciated the fund’s contribution to Pakistan’s economic development. He also discussed ongoing projects and potential new areas of investment.
Separately, during his meeting with Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masatsugu Asakawa, Dar thanked the multilateral lender for its support over the years and its commitments following the devastating floods.
The ADB president assured the finance minister of approval of the BRACE programme amounting to $1.5 billion and continued support to Pakistan. Dar also met International Finance Corporation (IFC) Managing Director Makhtar Diop, with whom he discussed potential means of enhancing IFC’s engagement in Pakistan and assured all facilitation in this regard.
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