Caption: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb in a meeting with Robert Kaproth, Assistant US Treasury Secretary for International Finance and Counsellor Jonathan Greenstein in Washington.
Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb has welcomed successful negotiations with the US administration leading to a tariff deal, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Tuesday.
Finance Minister Aurangzeb expressed these sentiments during a meeting with Robert Kaproth, Assistant US Treasury Secretary for International Finance and Counsellor Jonathan Greenstein in Washington D.C., where he has arrived to attend the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB).
During the meeting on Monday, the finance minister highlighted strong economic fundamentals of the country underpinned by the IMF loan programme and also discussed new legislation in on virtual assets.
He briefed the US Treasury officials about the legislation to regulate virtual assets in Pakistan.
Senator Aurangzeb also invited US companies to invest in the oil and gas, mineral, agriculture and IT sectors in Pakistan.
Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb attended the Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting (CFMM) focusing on "Strengthening Economic Resilience amidst International Policy Shifts", on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Washington.
In his address to the meeting, Finance Minister Aurangzeb emphasized the importance of prioritizing actions and focusing on delivery to move towards the goal of a resilient and prosperous Commonwealth. Senator Aurangzeb also supported measures for operationalizing the Commonwealth infrastructure, Financial Resilience Hub and Technical Assistance Fund for peer review and capacity building.
He further underscored the centrality of climate financing for a country like Pakistan and the imperative of operationalizing institutions including the Loss and Damage Fund.
Senator Aurangzeb along with his team met with representatives of CitiBank comprising Milos Stefanovic , Managing Director Head of Public Sector Group UK, Europe and MEA and Jaya Dutt, Head of Markets MEA, in Washington.
During the meeting, the minister acknowledged Citi's long-standing partnership with Pakistan and appreciated its continued engagement.
He further provided an overview of Pakistan's stabilizing macroeconomic indicators driven by ongoing structural reforms, validated by all international credit rating agencies.
During the meeting, the finance minister also highlighted Pakistan's emergence as a growing hub for digital innovation and financial services, assuring that government would review all proposals presented by the Bank.
Senator Aurangzeb was also hosted by the leadership and members of the US-Pakistan Business Council.
Speaking on the occasion, the finance minister briefed the participants about improvements in the macroeconomic indicators of Pakistan. He also underlined that the private sector has to lead the country.
The minister reiterated that the Government of Pakistan was conscious of the challenges being faced by the businesses and working to provide maximum relief.
He highlighted the trade deal negotiated with the US authorities, saying he looked forward to enhanced G2G and B2B engagements with US companies in priority sectors including mines and minerals, agriculture, IT, and pharmaceuticals.
Aurangzeb concluded the session with a Q&A assuring to address the genuine concerns raised.