ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the United States have agreed to further increase cooperation on the Pak-US Working Group on Economy and Finance as well as Trade & Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) Council.
This was agreed during the special meeting of US Ambassador Richard G Olson with Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. The American Ambassador was accompanied by the US Embassy’s Economic Counsellor Daniela Ballard, while Secretary Finance Dr Waqar Masood, Additional Secretary, Tariq Mahmood Pasha and Joint Secretary, Awais Manzoor were also present in the meeting, said a Finance Ministry press release.
Both sides agreed that the above said 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.
