Visiting Pakistan delegation led by Dr. Miftah Ismail, Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs participated in the IMF / World Bank spring meetings 2018 at Washington. The delegation attended a number of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the main event. These included a meeting with Mr. Mitsuhiro Furusawa, Deputy Managing Director of IMF and his team on Pakistan’s economic performance; a discussion of Pakistan’s ongoing World bank engagements with the World Bank team led by Ms. Ethel Sennhauser, Vice President for South Asia region and a review of IFC’s project portfolio and potential initiatives in Pakistan with the IFC team led by Ms. Snezena Stoiljkovic, Vice President for South Asia. The Adviser briefed the World Bank and IMF officials about the current economic situation. He pointed out that Pakistan was set to achieve high GDP growth rate during the current year again and was hoping to maintain this momentum in the coming years due to robust performance of the real sector of the economy. He also drew attention to improvement in the country’s exports resulting from various policy initiatives implemented by the government. On the sidelines, the Advisor also met Mr. Takehiko Nakao, President of the Asian Development Bank and discussed Pakistan’s portfolio and future development initiatives where ADB could assist the government of Pakistan. President ADB assured the Advisor of the Bank’s continuous support and role as Pakistan’s major development partner. He also invited the Advisor to attend ADB board of governors meeting in Manila next month. In the meeting with the Afghan Finance Minister Mr. Eklil Hakimi, the two sides discussed various issues adversely impacting trade flows between the two countries and agree to set up working groups to resolve them. The first joint meeting is expected to take place in early May. The Adviser also spoke on the development impact of the Belt and Road Initiative in Pakistan in a high-level roundtable chaired by the World Bank President, Dr. Jim Yong Kim. The delegation accompanying the Adviser Finance includes Governor State Bank and Secretary Economic Affairs Division. Pakistan’s Alternate Executive Director at the World Bank and Economic Minister at the Embassy of Pakistan in Washington DC also assisted the delegation.
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