ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb will meet IMF (MD) Managing Director Cristalina Georgiou and junior level US officials in Washington next week.
The Treasury Minister will also meet with the American Deputy Minister David Lowe and the Deputy Secretary of Finance. The Pakistani delegation headed by the Minister of Finance will also include Governor State Bank, Jameel Ahmed, Secretary of Finance Imdadullah Bosal, Secretary of Economic Affairs, Dr. Kazim Niaz.
The purpose of the visit from April 13 to 21 is to participate in the spring meeting of the World Bank and the IMF. On this occasion, Pakistan will request the IMF to send a mission for the Midterm Extended Fund Facility (EFF). The delegation is likely to come to Pakistan by the end of this month after the current program ends.
However, the finance minister’s approval of four salaries as honorarium to the officers of the Prime Minister’s Office before requesting a huge package from the IMF is in stark contrast to the fact that Pakistan is suffering from severe financial difficulties.
The prime minister and the finance minister have lost their high moral standard by favoring the highly paid bureaucrats, how can they now tell the people that the IMF program will be tough and they should be ready to face it. MDIMF and David Lowe are likely to meet on the same day.
