Finance Minister Seeks Investment, Crypto Expertise in Meetings With China, Turkey, Gulf States

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb concluded the third day of his visit to Washington, D.C., for the annual Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank with a series of significant engagements, focusing on bolstering bilateral relations and advancing Pakistan’s economic reform agenda. The Finance Minister held a productive meeting with Lan Fo’an, Finance Minister of China. Recalling their previous meeting in Beijing in July 2024, Aurangzeb expressed gratitude for China’s unwavering support for Pakistan’s socio-economic development and its backing of the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program. He provided an update on Pakistan’s ongoing reforms in taxation, energy, privatization, public finance, and State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs). The Finance Minister also requested the People’s Bank of China’s (PBOC) support to expedite the Panda bond issuance process and extended an invitation to the Chinese Finance Minister to visit Pakistan. Later, the Finance Minister met with the Saudi Minister of Finance, Mohammed Aljadaan. He thanked Saudi Arabia for its enduring support for Pakistan’s economic development, including its assistance with the IMF program. Aurangzeb welcomed Saudi investments in Pakistan and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to sustained reform efforts. He also invited the Saudi Finance Minister to visit Pakistan. Furthermore, the Finance Minister called on Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, sharing progress on financial inclusion initiatives for Pakistani women, supported by the National Financial Inclusion Strategy and international partners. He underscored the government’s commitment to women’s education, entrepreneurship, and digital access, emphasizing the need for cross-entity data sharing to enhance financial inclusion. Continuing with his engagements, Senator Aurangzeb met with Mehmet Şimşek, Türkiye’s Finance Minister, emphasizing the strong historical ties between the two countries and the untapped potential for trade and investment. Aurangzeb noted that current trade and investment levels do not reflect the full potential and invited Turkish investors to explore opportunities in Pakistan’s dairy, cheese, and livestock sectors. During a meeting with Mohamed Bin Hadi Al Hussaini, Minister of State for Financial Affairs, UAE, Aurangzeb briefed his UAE counterpart on Pakistan’s economic indicators, the recent sovereign rating upgrade by Fitch, and the government’s privatization agenda. He appreciated the UAE’s investment interest at both government-to-government (G2G) and business-to-business (B2B) levels and stressed the need to translate memoranda of understanding (MoUs) into concrete agreements. He also expressed interest in learning from the UAE’s experience in regulating cryptocurrency. The Finance Minister then participated in the 13th Ministerial Meeting of the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action (CFMCA). In his statement, he outlined Pakistan’s development of a Climate Prosperity Plan (CPP) and a Climate Finance Strategy. Highlighting the climate-focused pillars on resilience and decarbonization within the 10-year Country Partnership Framework (CPF) with the World Bank, he informed the meeting that Pakistan had reached a Staff-Level Agreement on a new arrangement under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) to support long-term balance of payments stability against climate change. He emphasized the importance of integrating climate considerations into macroeconomic and financial policies, while acknowledging the challenges of capacity building in both the public and private sectors for bankable and investable projects. During the MENAP Ministers/Governors Meeting with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, Aurangzeb acknowledged the increased global uncertainty since the Al-Ula Conference on Emerging Markets. The Finance Minister stressed the need to focus on structural reforms in taxation, energy, privatization, SOEs, and government rightsizing. He cited the recent credit rating upgrade by Fitch as an external validation of Pakistan’s reform trajectory. While identifying agriculture, IT, and mines and minerals as key growth sectors, the Minister highlighted the importance of regional trade corridors amidst global trade fragmentation. He thanked the World Bank for the 10-year CPF and its focus on climate change and population, and made special mention of Pakistan’s Staff-Level Agreement under the RSF. He expressed interest in IMF technical support for capacity building and endorsed the World Bank’s agenda for job creation through private sector engagement. In a meeting with Gargee Ghosh, President of Global Policy and Advocacy at the Gates Foundation, Aurangzeb appreciated the Foundation’s contributions to polio eradication, maternal and child health, nutrition, family planning, and vaccine delivery in Pakistan. He also commended the Foundation’s initiative to digitize Pakistan’s tax system and discussed integrating payment platforms like Buna and Raast. The Minister requested continued support for Pakistan’s polio eradication efforts and invited the Foundation to attend an event on May 7, 2025, marking the launch of Pakistan’s national hepatitis C elimination program. Earlier in the day, the Finance Minister participated in a fireside chat hosted by Masood Ahmed, President Emeritus of the Center for Global Development, in Washington, D.C. He reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to structural reforms and sustainable growth. The event concluded with a Q&A session. In another significant meeting, Minister Aurangzeb met with Jin Liqun, President of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). He thanked the AIIB for its longstanding support for Pakistan’s socio-economic development and discussed the bank’s financing for ongoing and future projects. He reiterated Pakistan’s desire to issue the inaugural Panda Bond during the current calendar year and expressed keenness to sustain the current momentum of engagement with the AIIB. The Finance Minister also met with the team of S&P Global in Washington, D.C., and welcomed their upcoming visit to Pakistan. While briefing them on the country’s macroeconomic outlook, fiscal consolidation, and growth catalysts, he highlighted Fitch’s recent credit rating upgrade as external validation of Pakistan’s reform agenda and expressed hope that S&P Global would also consider upgrading Pakistan’s ratings.