ISLAMABAD: On Thursday, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar expressed confidence that issues with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will be resolved and predicted that the Pakistanis will soon hear “positive news”
The minister made the comments during a brief press conference after the Road Safety Conference for Parliamentarians concluded in Islamabad.
The 9th Programme Review is currently being discussed between Pakistan and the IMF, and if it is successfully concluded, the $1.1 billion loan tranche will become available.
The other multilateral and bilateral lenders would not decide to approve large fresh loans to Pakistan until the IMF agreement was made public.
Talks between Pakistan and IMF
The trustworthiness of the government’s pledges and the legitimacy of the foreign loans made by other countries were the two most important concerns that dominated talks between Pakistan and the Fund the day before, delaying the delivery of the Memorandum for Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP).
Dar and IMF Mission Chief Nathan Porter met in private at the PM House, out of the spotlight and to resolve the impasse. To avoid the media, the meeting location was shifted from the finance ministry to the PM House.
The minister, however, exuded confidence today when he stated that the situation with the major lender “would be resolved soon.”
Dar said in his speech at the occasion that the government is working quickly to expand the quantity and caliber of the nation’s road infrastructure to support economic growth and prosperity.
He insisted that the administration was working to guarantee that traffic laws were being applied effectively to prevent accidents throughout the nation.
In addition to stressing the importance of concentrating more on comprehensive legislation to create traffic laws and ensure their rigorous execution, he urged lawmakers to find the required solutions to increase road safety.
To provide secure and contemporary transportation, 50 projects worth Rs118.4 billion have been included by the government in the current budget year, according to Dar.
He emphasized how the Islamabad to Lahore motorway project was completed by the PML-N government in the early 1990s, and how the country now has a wider network of motorways.
funds from Pakistanis abroad
Ishaq Dar had already granted the go-ahead to raise interest-free loans worth roughly $2 billion from Pakistanis living abroad for a five-year term to alleviate the nation’s current financial problems.
Saylani Welfare International Trust (SWIT) Chairman Bashir Farooqi requested the finance minister’s approval while speaking at a conference titled “Defining a Roadmap for the Islamization of Pakistan’s Economy” so that the trust could voluntarily raise $2 billion from Pakistanis living abroad through their global welfare network.
Dar, who connected via a video conference link, gave orders to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the committee of SWIT executives, and other like-minded individuals to convene and discuss how to raise the aforementioned amounts.