Dar leaves for Washington to review IMF loan plan

Published October 8, 2013
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. — File photo
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. — File photo

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar left for Washington on Tuesday to to review the implementation of the recently approved International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme for Pakistan.

According to a Dawn report, Pakistan's government has already started taking decisions to withdraw subsidies on power supply, privatise state-owned entities, and enhance revenue generation, as per the conditions agreed with the IMF.

Senator Ishaq Dar will attend the annual World Bank-IMF meetings this week.

Although the early meetings will start from October 11, a series of events were scheduled to start from Oct 7 in which top officials of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund would discuss world economy with government leaders, delegates, observers and civil society representatives.

The issues scheduled for discussion include strengthening fiscal transparency standards and practices, improving government accounting, emerging markets, eradication of poverty, tax systems and monetary policies, development in the digital age, and the Eurozone crisis, among others.

According to sources, the finance minister is scheduled to meet the senior leadership of the international financial institutions, including World Bank and IMF. Dar will also meet with key officials of the US State Department and Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC).

The annual gathering will provide an opportunity for the finance minister to interact with his counterparts from various countries to discuss opportunities for enhancing trade and economic cooperation

Senator Dar is also likely to meet his Iranian and Afghanistan counterparts at the meeting, and intends to apprise his interlocutors of Islamabad's economic growth plan and development priorities.

Moreover, he is also expected to discuss cooperative ties between Pakistan and the US with key American officials.

According to the IMF, the annual meetings occur ahead of the meetings of the International Monetary and Financial Committee, the Development Committee, the Group of Twenty-Four, and various other groups of members.

At the end of their respective meetings, the International Monetary and Financial Committee and the Development Committee, as well as several other groups, will issue communiqués.

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