World Bank Discusses National Growth, Fiscal Program With Finance Minister
ISLAMABAD: A World Bank delegation meets Finance Minister to discuss National Growth and Fiscal Program along side the wide ranging reforms needed to steer the growth of the economy.
A significant follow-up meeting was held today between Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb, and a team from the World Bank.
The meeting, conducted at the Ministry of Finance, focused on Pakistan’s national growth and fiscal program as part of the broader 10-year Country Partnership Framework (CPF), which includes a $20 billion commitment.World Bank’s Executive Directors visit Tarbela Dam
This framework targets key development sectors such as health, education, climate resilience, and sustainable economic growth.
The meeting was attended by senior officials from both the Ministry of Finance and the Federal Board of Revenue. The primary focus was on the World Bank’s investment financing aimed at supporting economic reforms.
The World Bank team presented progress on the preparation of a comprehensive National Growth and Fiscal Program, which addresses critical economic and fiscal reform issues.
These include strategies for overcoming growth constraints, enhancing revenue mobilization, improving the quality of public spending, and promoting efficiency and accountability in service delivery.
A key objective of the reforms is to create conditions conducive to increased private investment while ensuring that public resources are better allocated to promote inclusive development.
In addition, the World Bank provided the Finance Minister with an update on their ongoing data analysis of policy recommendations gathered from pre-budget consultations with various chambers, trade bodies, and associations.
This is in alignment with the government’s early budget process, which began in January this year to ensure a realistic and sound revenue policy.
Minister Aurangzeb emphasized the importance of adopting an integrated approach to fiscal, trade, and private sector reforms at both the federal and provincial levels.
He underscored the necessity of designing reforms that are incentivized by outcome-based and performance-driven indicators, directly tied to human development and socio-economic growth.
The Finance Minister also reiterated that a coordinated national effort, such as the National Fiscal Pact, is essential for ensuring macroeconomic stability.
He highlighted that this unified approach would be critical for achieving Pakistan’s goals of inclusive and sustainable economic growth, benefiting all citizens.
