LAHORE: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) governor and secretaries of finance and revenue divisions will attend the 2023 spring meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington today.
Finance and Revenue Minister Ishaq Dar got his visit cancelled on the direction of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The spring meetings of two leading global financial institutions will consider uncertainties and risks weighing heavily on the global economy. The meetings that will last from April 10 to April 16 will also focus on the effects of climate change, which is threatening lives and livelihoods around the world.
The meetings bring finance ministers and central bank governors from across the globe who use the opportunity to renew their contacts with international financial leaders. Some also hold bilateral meetings with US Treasury and State Department officials.
Underlining the issues that will be discussed at these meetings, an official statement noted that a “stubborn inflation, the cost-of-living crisis, and slower growth effects” were hurting the poor and most vulnerable.
“Record high debt is holding back developing countries, and the effects of climate change are threatening lives and livelihoods around the world, the statement added.
A picture on the UN Foundation’s website showed how last year’s floods in Pakistan caused widespread devastations and international financial institutions to develop a new mechanism to “help communities on the receiving end of (climate change) catastrophes”.
“Many lives were lost, and millions lost their homes, with one-third of the country submerged,” the caption under the picture pointed out.
— Pakistani delegation to meet IMF officials —
Led by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Finance Tariq Bajwa, a technical delegation comprising officials of finance and economic affairs divisions and the State Bank of Pakistan’s governor is participating in the annual meetings of the global financial institutions today.
Sources told that the delegates might present fresh proposals before the international financial institutions for providing dollar inflows.
They said Pakistan and the IMF could also discuss the possibility of combining the remaining 10th and 11th reviews under the $6.5 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme in case the pending 9th Review is completed.
Signed in 2019, the IMF programme is going to expire on June 30, 2023, and under the set guidelines, the programme cannot be extended beyond the deadline.
The IMF is seeking verifications from the bilateral friends of Pakistan, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar, if they would provide additional assistance of $6 billion till the end of June 2023.
The coalition government has already claimed that it has fulfilled all toughest requirements set by the Fund to release $1.1bn tranche.
