Ishaq Dar, the finance minister, cancelled his planned travel to the United States to meet with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) the next week. The “domestic state of affairs” in the nation is stated as the cause of the withdrawal, as Dar found it challenging to go to the World Bank-IMF spring meetings, which were scheduled to take place in Washington from April 10 to April 16.
Dar’s initial goal was to address issues with the stability of the government, upcoming economic initiatives, and repairing the confidence gap with multilateral lenders. The Minister of Economic Affairs, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, will not visit the United States as a result of his departure, nevertheless.
At the WB-IMF spring meetings, the government will now be represented by Secretaries of Finance Hamed Yaqoob Sheikh and Economic Affairs Kazim Niaz.
Meetings with his Saudi Arabian equivalent and the UK state minister for development may also be cancelled as a result of the finance minister’s withdrawal decision. Dar was scheduled to meet Nathan Porter, the IMF’s mission chief in Pakistan, on Monday to kick off his trip. This meeting was crucial because Pakistan and the IMF were no longer engaged in active negotiations as a result of the government’s decision to announce petrol subsidies.
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Dar was due to meet with representatives from the three international credit rating agencies that have downgraded Pakistan in addition to the IMF and WB. Meetings with foreign commercial banks were also organized by the finance ministry in an effort to convince them to issue loans.
The Pakistan team may yet get to meet with Antoinette Sayeh, the IMF’s deputy managing director, who keeps a close eye on Pakistan. It is unclear if a meeting would be scheduled with managing director Kristalina Georgieva. According to some accounts, diplomatic protocol rules prohibit low-ranking dignitaries from meeting presidents, directors, and other executives of major multilateral organizations as well as finance ministers from different nations.
