ISLAMABAD: Faisal Saleem, first Pakistani senator elected to the International Monetary Fund-World Bank Parliamentary Network board, on Saturday said he would highlight Pakistan’s economic challenges and try to engage global financial institutions to help overcome these woes during his tenure.
The IMF-World Bank Parliamentary Network provides a platform for parliamentarians from over 140 countries to advocate for increased accountability and transparency in international financial institutions and multilateral development financing. Founded in 2000, the network seeks to engage lawmakers from around the globe in the common mission of addressing good governance and poverty challenges both at home and abroad.
Directed by a 12-member board elected by their peers, the Parliamentary Network is an independent non-governmental organization with a secretariat in Paris. The organization is open to all elected parliamentarians from World Bank member states, who hold a current mandate. Its members represent themselves and their constituents, and not their countries, parliaments or governments, according to the Network.
“My election to the Parliamentary Network’s board is an honor for Pakistan and I am the only member from Asia on the board [at present],” Senator Saleem told Arab News, adding that he was nominated by the Pakistan parliament and was elected this week as a member of the IMF-World Bank Parliamentary Network board by parliamentarians of other countries.
“My mission is to highlight and debate Pakistan’s economic challenges through the forum and try my best to steer the country out of the crisis. I’ll be there with a one-point agenda and that is to work for the betterment of my country.”
Senator Saleem, an industrialist hailing from Pakistan’s northwestern Mardan district, became a member of the upper house of Pakistan’s parliament in March 2021 on the ticket of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.
He said he was elected to the IMF-World Bank Parliamentary Network board for a period of three years, adding that half of the board members retire every three years and new members are elected in their place. “I have become the first Pakistani parliamentarian in the country’s history to be elected to the coveted position,” Senator Saleem added.
As a board member, he said, he would be discussing with his peers the loan programs, development projects and different initiatives to improve governance and overcome poverty in Pakistan. “I’ll be trying to initiate favorable recommendations to international financial institutions for Pakistan during my tenure,” the senator said.
Economically troubled Pakistan came to the brink of a sovereign default in June last year, but averted it by securing a $3 billion stand-by arrangement (SBA) from the IMF, which expires next month.
The country urgently needs a fresh IMF agreement to shore up its struggling $350 billion economy, which is suffering from high inflation, low reserves and mounting external financing needs.
Senator Saleem, however, clarified the IMF-World Bank Parliamentary Network had no direct role in loan disbursements or development projects funded by the IMF or the World Bank.
“I’ll be working closely with the government in Pakistan to give my productive inputs at the forum,” he said. “My first priority will be inviting all the board members for an official meeting to Pakistan to highlight a positive image of the country.”
First Pakistani elected to IMF-World Bank parliamentary board vows to highlight country’s economic woes
https://arab.news/jvmht
First Pakistani elected to IMF-World Bank parliamentary board vows to highlight country’s economic woes
- Senator Faisal Saleem, who was elected this week for a period of three years, calls it an ‘honor’ for Pakistan
- The parliamentarian says will work closely with the Pakistani government to highlight the challenges facing the country
Pakistan secures $1.2 billion as IMF clears reviews, flags gains on stability and reforms
- IMF praises Pakistan’s policy implementation despite challenging global environment and climate-driven shocks
- The Executive Board urges faster energy, SOE and governance reforms for macroeconomic and fiscal sustainability
KARACHI: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved Pakistan’s second review under its Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the first review of its Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), said a statement on Tuesday, unlocking about $1.2 billion in new financing while praising the country’s progress in stabilizing the economy despite recent floods.
The decision taken by the IMF Executive Board allows Islamabad to draw $1 billion under the EFF and $200 million under the RSF, bringing total disbursements under both arrangements to about $3.3 billion. The Fund said Pakistan’s policy implementation had improved financing conditions, strengthened reserves and preserved stability even as the country faced a challenging global environment and climate-driven shocks.
Under the 37-month EFF, approved last year in September, the IMF noted strong fiscal performance, including a primary surplus of 1.3 percent of GDP, a rebound in gross reserves to $14.5 billion by end-FY25 from $9.4 billion a year earlier and progress on rebuilding confidence. It noted a surge in inflation due to flood-related food price spikes but said it was expected to ease.
“Pakistan’s reform implementation under the EFF arrangement has helped preserve macroeconomic stability in the face of several recent shocks,” IMF Deputy Managing Director Nigel Clarke said. “Real GDP growth has accelerated, inflation expectations have remained anchored, and fiscal and external imbalances have continued to moderate.”
Clarke said Islamabad’s commitment to meeting its FY26 primary balance target while also addressing urgent post-flood relief signaled strong fiscal intent. He urged continued tax policy simplification and base broadening to build space for climate resilience, social protection and public investment.
The IMF official maintained a tight monetary stance should be continued to keep inflation within the State Bank Pakistan’s target range, while allowing exchange-rate flexibility and deepening the interbank market.
Additionally, he said financial regulation enforcement and capital market development were essential for a resilient financial sector.
The IMF also flagged energy sector reforms as “critical to safeguarding viability,” noting that timely tariff adjustments had helped curb circular debt but that Pakistan must now focus on reducing electricity production and distribution costs and addressing operational inefficiencies in both the power and gas sectors.
The statement also welcomed the publication of Pakistan’s Governance and Corruption Diagnostic report, a detailed IMF-supported assessment that maps out where government systems are vulnerable to inefficiency or misuse and recommends reforms to improve transparency, accountability and service delivery.
Further priorities include the privatization of state-owned enterprises and strengthening economic data quality.
Clarke said reducing Pakistan’s climate vulnerability was vital for long-term stability, referring to the RSF, a financing tool that provides long-term, low-cost loans to help countries address climate risks.
“The RSF arrangement is supporting efforts to strengthen natural disaster response and financing coordination, improve the use of scarce water resources, raise climate considerations in project selection and budgeting, and improve the information on climate-related risks in financing decisions,” he said.
Pakistan faced a prolonged economic crisis in recent years before it began implementing stringent IMF-recommended reforms, which have driven a gradual improvement in macroeconomic indicators over the past two years.
The country also remains one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations despite contributing less than one percent of global greenhouse-gas emissions.
It has endured a series of extreme weather events in recent years, most notably the 2022 super-floods that submerged one-third of the country, displaced millions and caused an estimated $30 billion in losses.
This year’s floods killed over 1,000 people and caused at least $2.9 billion in damage to agriculture and infrastructure, underscoring the scale of climate pressures facing the economy.
Economic experts told Arab News a day earlier that the Fund’s disbursements under the two loan programs would support the cash-strapped nation, which has relied heavily on financing from bilateral partners such as Saudi Arabia, China and the United Arab Emirates, as well as multilateral lenders.
“It obviously will help strengthen the external sector, the balance of payments,” said Samiullah Tariq, group head of research at Pakistan Kuwait Investment Company.
Another analyst, Shankar Talreja, head of research at Karachi-based Topline Securities, said the move was likely to send a positive signal to domestic and international investors about the government’s commitment to its reform agenda.
“This will help strengthen reserves and will eventually help a rating upgrade going forward,” he said.
