Minister for Finance Muhammad Aurangzeb has appreciated the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) partnership with Pakistan to support its development agenda.
He expressed these views while talking to President of the Asian Development Bank Masatsugu Asakawa in Washington, according to a press release received here on Saturday from Washington DC.
The Minister also welcomed the launch of the new ADB office in Islamabad and expressed the hope for early finalization of ADB’s Country Partnership Framework.
Muhammad Aurangzeb commended the Bank for completing the Capital Adequacy Framework and for exempting Pakistan from surcharges beyond exposure limits for the next three years.
He also appreciated ADB’s support for a PolicyBased Loan of USD 500 million for the Climate and Disaster Resilience Enhancement Program, scheduled for consideration by ADB’s Board on 29th of this month.
During the meeting, both sides agreed on the importance of domestic revenue mobilization, regional cooperation, and the timely completion of ADB’s new office in Islamabad.
Earlier, while talking to Group CEO of Dubai Islamic Bank Dr Adnan Chilwan in Washington, the Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb thanked him for timely support in bridging the financing gap and appreciated its plans to expand operations in Pakistan.
The Minister informed that Pakistan’s credit rating had recently been upgraded by Fitch and Moody’s. He indicated the government’s intention to tap into International Capital Markets (ICM) through an inaugural Panda Bond to diversify the financing base.
During the meeting, various lending options offered by Dubai Islamic Bank to the Government of Pakistan were discussed. The two sides expressed their intent to collaborate further.
Meanwhile, representatives of Moody’s credit rating agency, met the Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb in Washington. The Minister appreciates Moody’s recent upgrade of Pakistan’s credit rating to Caa2.
The Minister informed that senior officers of the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank regularly engage with rating agencies. The meeting included a detailed briefing on debt sustainability, monetary policy, susceptibility to external vulnerabilities, FX reserves, fiscal discipline, revenue outlook, governance strength, and financial markets resilience.
