KARACHI: Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb underlined the government’s resolve to carry out reforms in the energy and tax sectors in his meeting with a senior World Bank official this week, the finance ministry said on Saturday, as Islamabad grapples with an economic crisis amid surging inflation and low foreign exchange reserves. 

Reeling from a macroeconomic crisis, Pakistan has assured international financial institutions and bilateral partners it would take concrete measures to broaden its tax base, carry out reforms in the energy sector and overhaul loss-making state-owned enterprises (SOEs). 

Aurangzeb has been in Washington since last week to participate in spring meetings organized by the IMF and World Bank. His tour is an important one for the South Asian country as Pakistan’s ongoing nine-month, $3 billion loan program with the International Monetary Fund designed to tackle its balance-of-payments crisis, expires this month.

Aurangzeb met Martin Raiser, the World Bank’s regional vice president for South Asia, on Friday to discuss the government’s economic reforms. 

“Underlined the reform thrust of the government in the areas of energy, tax reforms and SOEs,” the finance ministry said. “Informed that government was pursuing short and long-term goals in these sectors.”

Aurangzeb said the World Bank’s focus on climate change, digitalization and human development aligns with Islamabad’s priorities, highlighting the government’s vision to realize the country’s true potential for economic growth. 

“Agreed on the need for reforms in the agriculture sector, water management and waste-water treatment,” the ministry said. 

Aurangzeb met World Bank’s President Ajay Banga on Tuesday during which he spoke about the government’s reforms in tax and energy sectors and highlighted Pakistan’s progress on privatization of government entities. 

In an interview on Monday, the Pakistani finance minister had said Islamabad would seek a fresh three-year IMF program, adding that the government plans to continue with necessary policy reforms to rein in deficits, build up reserves and manage soaring debt servicing.

In a separate statement, the finance ministry said Aurangzeb met China’s Finance Minister Lan Fo’an on Friday. During the exchange, the Pakistani finance chief thanked his Chinese counterpart for Beijing’s regular rollovers which helped plug Pakistan’s external financing gaps. 

“Informed that Pakistan was entering into a larger and extended program with IMF and looked forward to the support of China,” the ministry said, adding that he highlighted the government’s economic reforms in various sectors during his meeting with the Chinese official. 

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered law enforcement agencies to expedite Pakistan’s nationwide anti-smuggling campaign, state-run media reported this week, as Islamabad tries to navigate a tricky path to economic recovery. 

Pakistan’s caretaker administration announced a countrywide crackdown against smuggling and black marketing in September 2023 as the South Asian country reeled from an economic crisis that has seen its foreign exchange reserves plummet, currency devaluate sharply and inflation rise to record highs. 

PM Sharif’s government has vowed to continue the country’s anti-smuggling operations to ensure Pakistan makes steady economic progress. 

“Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has directed the law enforcement agencies to expedite the countrywide anti-smuggling campaign,” the state-run Radio Pakistan reported on Friday. It said the development took place during a high-level meeting chaired by Sharif in Islamabad on Friday to review the anti-smuggling operations in the country. 

In October last year, Pakistan imposed a 10 percent processing fee on several items imported from Afghanistan under a transit trade agreement to stop the illegal entry of goods from the country. In the meeting on Friday, Sharif ordered authorities to ensure effective monitoring of the Afghan transit trade items to prevent their smuggling. 

“He directed the customs authorities to conduct a third-party audit of the system that monitors Afghan transit trade,” state-run media said. 

Authorities told Sharif during the meeting that a list of smugglers, hoarders and their facilitators has been prepared and provided to law enforcement agencies and provinces. 

The Pakistani prime minister appreciated law enforcement agencies for taking effective action against smuggling and ordered authorities to enhance cooperation to crack down on the illegal activities.