Prime Minister seeks WB’s aid for priority reforms

Islamabad:

Prime Minister Shebaz Sharif sought the support of the World Bank Board to engage more eligible foreign advisers to implement the agenda of Pakistan’s economic reform program.

The Prime Minister met the nine -member delegation of the World Bank’s managing directors on Monday. The delegation is currently visiting Pakistan, overseeing the portfolios of various countries in the World Bank.

The delegation includes the World Bank Dr Au Kir Shah, the Managing Director of Pakistan’s Outbound, and he will soon join the government. During the meeting, Shebas expressed his desire to get the technical support of the World Bank Committee.

The Prime Minister expressed his desire to get the support of the World Bank Committee to engage in high -quality advisers to implement its agenda on the elimination of corruption and transparency, except for the privatization of the economy and digitalization.

Officials said that the arrival directors asked questions about the power sector reforms, the increase in investment, the privatization of the power sector and the reduction of high electricity costs. Pakistani officials explained the multiple node strategy to reduce fees.

They quoted activities, including privatization and other activities taken by the government. Residential and commercial electricity prices ranged from Rs 65 to Rs 70 per unit, while industrial fees were high compared to regional countries.

Some directors asked the government’s plan to raise investment and the financial relations between the central and provincial governments. The rate of GDP in the country’s first GDP decreased by 50 years in the last financial year.

Directors inquired about the government’s plan to privatize power supply companies. The government is still in the early stages of the privatization of power supply companies, but hopes that a transaction will mature by the end of the year.

In the first year of its post, the government could not privatize any state -owned company, and the first intense effort to sell 60% of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) shares.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) – One Hand of the World Bank – provided technical support for the outsourcing of the Islamabad International Airport. The Cabinet rejected the foreign effort for the outsourcing of the Islamabad airport last week, and decided to launch the process. A few days ago, IFC demanded that Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb be involved in the outsourcing of Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport.

Prime Minister Shebaz told the delegation that Pakistan was greatly benefited by its partnership with the World Bank, which provided considerable assistance to the affected people of 2022.

Last month, Washington -based credit provider approved Pakistan’s $ 20 billion temporary financial set. Discounts are attached to achieve target effects in six fields.

Shebaz Sharif said Pakistan’s corporate and economic reform program is moving fast. The Prime Minister’s Office quoted him, “The country’s economy is on the right track and moves towards growth.”

He emphasized that further efforts are needed for sustainable economic growth. He said the debt for the economic turning point went into the hard work of the government’s economic committee.

The Prime Minister noticed the rise in Pakistan’s exports and money laundering; Reduction in interest rates is to increase investment in the manufacturing sector.

The Prime Minister said the government would introduce transparency in the organization to control corruption. Digitalization was a preference in Federal Board Revenue (FPR) reforms, he reiterated.

One managing director raised a question from the country’s tax-high domestic production. The Prime Minister said that the Special Investment Council (SIFC), which includes all shareholders to ensure an attractive environment for investing in Pakistan, has been created.

The delegation also held a separate meeting with the Minister of Economic Affairs and the Minister of Planning. Ahzan Iqbal explained to the delegation on plans to raise the economy, “We must earn dollars to pay for imports. We must focus on developing export skills in key sectors.”

He identified eight important areas for growth: Agriculture, Industry, Service, Information Technology, Human Resources Export, Mining, Blue Economics and Creativity Industries. In the next five years, the Minister of Planning Underlines the urgency to increase Pakistan’s exports to $ 60 billion.

However, a few days ago, the Pakistan Business Council said the government’s decision to increase the price of domestic power generation was unrealistic of $ 60 billion export.