Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar held a meeting with World Bank’s Country Director to Pakistan Patchamuthu Illangovan and discussed him the upcoming reform initiatives of the government.

The World Bank director congratulated the finance minister on completing the IMF programme successfully. “The completion of this programme is a major milestone,” he remarked.

Ishaq Dar said the government had successfully implemented its reform agenda during the last three years and the process would continue in future as well, said a statement issued on Saturday. The financial discipline introduced and strictly followed by the government would continue to be observed, he added.

“The journey would not just stop here, we would continue to improve our financial management and would make this country one of the choicest place for foreign direct investment,” the finance minister affirmed.

Illagovan also discussed the proposed World Bank plan for the overall assistance package to be made available to Pakistan under IDA and development policy credit system for economic growth. The minister thanked the World Bank team for assisting Pakistan on its road to development. He said that the support and assistance received from the World Bank for the economic reform programme was much appreciated. The meeting was attended by senior officials of the Ministry of Finance and World Bank team.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Saturday chaired a meeting to review the arrangements for the upcoming SAARC Finance Minsters’ Conference to be held at Islamabad on August 25-26.

Officials of the Ministries of Finance and Foreign Affairs gave presentations to the participants of the meeting on the overall plan to conduct the conference, said a press release. Details of the arrangements made for this conference were shared with the participants. The finance minister expressed satisfaction on the arrangements made so far and directed that the relevant ministries and departments should ensure maximum coordination to make befitting arrangements for the conference.

The minister said that all the countries in the SAARC region have a lot of potential to develop together by utilising each other’s potentials and energies.

The cooperation, he said, was necessary for promoting welfare and improving the quality of life of the peoples of the region and the upcoming conference would be an important event in that regard.

The meeting was attended by senior officials of the ministries of finance, interior, information and broadcasting, and aviation divisions. Moreover, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar chaired a meeting to review the status of external financing of the budget operations.

The minister was briefed in detail on the current status of the financial inflows and outflows, said a press release on Saturday. Projections of expected foreign exchange inflows during the next few months were presented to the minister.

The minister expressed satisfaction on the overall state of foreign financing during the current year, saying that Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves were at a comfortable level.

He directed the Finance Division to focus on the most economical sources of financing, keeping in view the improved economic outlook of the country.