ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar met the delegation led by World Bank Country Director Naji bin Hassayn
Yesterday, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar met the delegation led by World Bank Country Director Naji bin Hussain and discussed their upcoming meetings in Washington.
The Finance Minister discussed these economic challenges with the Country Director of the World Bank. He said that the present government is well aware of these problems and is taking practical steps to remove the obstacles in the way of development.
Naji bin Hussain briefed Dar about the World Bank’s future cooperation with Pakistan. He informed the Finance Minister that the World Bank would allocate $2 billion from its existing financing plans to assist Pakistan in emergency operations in flood-affected areas. Allocating funds. About $1.5 billion in emergency funds will be collected this year.
Naji bin Hussain said that he has requested the headquarters to advance the disbursement of Pakistan’s share of the concessional loan to meet the additional financing requirements.
“The Minister of Finance has assured Naji Bin Hussain and his team of the advance measures for the timely completion of the programs,” a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance said. This could help secure concessions in a meeting with World Bank President David Malpass, but Dar’s meeting with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva remains uncertain due to scheduling issues, assured Finance Minister Ishaq. Dar is two days ahead of his departure for Washington, where Ishaq Dar is expected to attend a high-level conference on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the World Bank and the IMF.
Britain, a key member of the World Bank Group and the Group of 7, will co-chair the conference, a high-level conference aimed at seeking financial assistance from the world for Pakistan’s flood victims. The conference is organized by the International Donors Conference in Paris. As has already been done in this conference, the host French President will collect aid for Pakistan.
Pakistan is seeking approval of a budget support loan of $450 million by January next year. The World Bank is pushing for the simultaneous imposition of preconditions for a $450 million loan and another $600 million program, which are strict and could further damage the government’s political interests.
The terms of the loan are related to the fiscal and macroeconomic framework of the country, including the provinces. The objective of the loan is to reduce the circular debt by reducing the cost of power generation, improving efficiency in distribution and retargeting the power subsidy.
The previous PTI government had promised to re-launch the Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), which were signed with China.
However, sources say that the World Bank may give some time to implement this condition, provided that Pakistan improves the financial condition of electricity distribution companies and repays the revolving loan of Rs 2.3 trillion (23 trillion) by June this year. Other measures to reduce. Pakistan must at least show intention for some reforms in the power sector and take steps to reach a consensus on the integration of sales tax on goods and services, a task that would For this, the consent of the central and provincial governments was required.
Sources said the World Bank may agree to double the loan disbursement if the government is able to meet the conditions of GST integration and some power sector reforms.
The Finance Ministry has been claiming for a long time that the RISE-II loan is in the final stages but still some operations are pending. The biggest obstacle in the way of this loan is the lack of consensus between the Center and the four provincial governments on the harmonization of GST on goods and services across the country.
Ishaq Dar is expected to chair the National Tax Council (NTC) meeting on Monday. This time the issue is the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) which is not accepting the definition of services.
In addition, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said that the current government is taking steps to promote foreign investment in the country, including the United Kingdom, and build the economy on a sustainable basis.
According to the Ministry of Finance, he expressed these views while talking to the High Commissioner of Great Britain in Pakistan, Christian Turner, who came here for a meeting yesterday. Matters of bilateral interest were discussed in the meeting.
