KARACHI: Pakistan’s finance minister on Thursday reviewed ways to deepen cooperation with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to mobilize private investment, expand public-private partnerships and support job creation, the finance ministry said in a statement.

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb met an IFC delegation led by Khawaja Aftab Ahmed, the lender’s director for the Middle East, Pakistan and Afghanistan, as Islamabad seeks to translate recent macroeconomic stabilization into sustained private-sector growth.

Pakistan has made progress under an International Monetary Fund–backed reform program, easing immediate default risks and restoring a measure of macroeconomic stability. But officials say the next phase hinges on reviving investment, expanding exports and creating jobs, particularly as fiscal space remains tight and development spending constrained.

“Both sides agreed on the need to align investment and advisory support with Pakistan’s medium-term development priorities, with a clear focus on job creation, sustainability, and export-oriented growth,” the finance ministry said.

According to the statement, the IFC briefed the minister on its expanding engagement in Pakistan across investment and advisory operations, including local-currency financing, private-sector investments and sustainability-oriented initiatives. Particular emphasis was placed on the IFC’s role in strengthening public-private partnership frameworks, including projects aimed at improving urban services, infrastructure performance and resource efficiency.

Aurangzeb outlined the government’s strategy of creating enabling ecosystems rather than direct state intervention, identifying priority areas such as the digital and information technology economy, agriculture and agri-value chains, minerals and mining, health care and skills-based human capital exports.

Both sides also discussed closer coordination within the World Bank Group to deploy advisory, financing and risk-mitigation instruments more effectively, while stressing the importance of timely execution of approved transactions to maintain investor confidence.

Pakistan’s engagement with the International Finance Corporation is part of a broader long-term partnership aimed at catalyzing private sector-led growth. Since its early involvement in the country, IFC has deployed a range of equity and loan investments across sectors including renewable energy, infrastructure, manufacturing and agribusiness, with cumulative investments reaching an estimated $13 billion over several decades. 

In recent years, IFC has boosted financing for strategic initiatives such as Pakistan’s first sustainable aviation fuel facility in Punjab, where it is providing up to $35 million in equity and debt capital to generate jobs, support exports and reduce carbon emissions.