US Ambassador Donald Blome called on Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar in Islamabad on Tuesday (today).
The discussion covered various aspects of Pakistan-US bilateral relations including avenues for enhanced cooperation in diverse fields.
They also discussed matters relating to the upcoming session of the UN General Assembly.
The meeting took place at a moment when Pakistan is waiting for IMF’s approval for next loan program.
Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has said economic indicators are heading in the right direction.
In his televised remarks, he said upgradation of Pakistan’s ranking by two international agencies is also recognition of it.
The Finance Minister said the journey started about six months ago has started yielding positive results.
He pointed out that foreign exchange reserves stand over nine billion dollars, which are more than two months of import cover.
Referring to the gradual reduction in inflation, he said it has now come down to a single digit. With this, he said, the policy rate is also coming down, which will benefit all the sectors.
The Finance Minister said the remittances in the month of July remained at an all-time high.
Muhammad Aurangzeb once again emphasized the need for taking the tax to GDP ratio to over thirteen percent. He said all the sectors including the wholesalers, distributors and retailers will have to contribute to the economy. He said the results of enforcement and digitalization efforts will start appearing this month. He said 132 billion rupees of refunds have been paid to the exporters.
The Finance Minister also affirmed that the size of federal government will come down. He said there is a method to it and we are listening to the departments as well in this regard.
Expressing confidence that the IMF board will timely approve Pakistan’s loan program, the Finance Minister said it will be made successful and last program.
