ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday expressed satisfaction over Pakistan’s progress regarding an ongoing International Monetary Fund (IMF) program and macroeconomic stability in the country.
The South Asian country, which has faced an economic meltdown in recent years, is treading a long path to economic recovery under a $7 billion IMF program it secured in Sept. last year.
An IMF mission is currently in Pakistan to analyze Islamabad’s progress on key conditions as part of first review of the facility. A successful review will result in the release of around $1 billion to Pakistan as second installment under the program.
Speaking to his cabinet members, Sharif said the ongoing negotiations with the IMF were “satisfactory” and moving forward in a good manner.
“The IMF mission is here [in Pakistan]. The foreign minister and his team, and other ministers are holding talks with it,” the prime minister said in televised comments.
“I believe this program is important for our growth because our federal reserves, inflation, core inflation, your banking system, lowering of policy rate, all these are linked with this.”
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb last month said they were confident of meeting targets of the IMF program. Pakistan was able to build some trust with the IMF by completing a short-term, nine-month program last year.
Previous loan programs in Pakistan ended prematurely or saw delays after the governments at the time faltered on meeting key conditions.
Sharif said Pakistan’s growth was vital to meeting these conditions and for that, agriculture, industries, commerce, finance, IT, mines and minerals and maritime sectors were of great significance, hoping his cabinet’s members would transform their ministries to this effect.
“A complete transformation of railways is required. Similarly, there is huge potential in maritime,” he said.
“There would be a review of our ministries every three months, I will sit with you and the results of the review will be presented before the nation.”
PM expresses satisfaction over progress as IMF in Pakistan for first review of loan program
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PM expresses satisfaction over progress as IMF in Pakistan for first review of loan program
- An IMF mission is currently in Pakistan to analyze Islamabad’s progress on key conditions as part of first review of its $7 billion program
- Shehbaz Sharif says the program is vital to Pakistan as its federal reserves, inflation, banking system and policy rate are all linked with it
Pakistan, seven Muslim nations back Palestinian technocratic body, stress Gaza-West Bank unity
- The National Committee for the Administration of the Gaza Strip was announced on January 14
- Muslim nations call for consolidation of the ceasefire and unimpeded humanitarian aid into Gaza
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and seven other Muslim-majority countries on Thursday welcomed the formation of a temporary Palestinian technocratic body to administer Gaza, stressing that it must manage daily civilian affairs while preserving the institutional and territorial link between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank amid the ongoing peace efforts.
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Türkiye, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates said the newly announced National Committee for the Administration of the Gaza Strip would play a central role during the second phase of a broader peace plan aimed at ending the war and paving the way for Palestinian self-governance.
“The Ministers emphasize the importance of the National Committee commencing its duties in managing the day-to-day affairs of the people of Gaza, while preserving the institutional and territorial link between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, ensuring the unity of Gaza, and rejecting any attempts to divide it,” the statement said.
The committee, announced on Jan. 14, is a temporary transitional body established under United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803 and is to operate in coordination with the Palestinian Authority, the ministers said.
The statement said the move forms part of the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s Comprehensive Peace Plan for Gaza, which the ministers said they supported, praising Trump’s efforts to end the war, ensure the withdrawal of Israeli forces and prevent the annexation of the occupied West Bank.
The top leaders of all eight Muslim countries attended a meeting with Trump in New York last September, shortly before he unveiled the Gaza peace plan.
The ministers also called for the consolidation of the ceasefire, unimpeded humanitarian aid into Gaza, early recovery and reconstruction and the eventual return of the Palestinian Authority to administer the territory, leading to a just and sustainable peace based on UN resolutions and a two-state solution on pre-1967 lines with East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital.
