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- Finance minister meets Saudi counterpart to push privatization and seek strategic capital inflows
- International Monetary Fund on Tuesday cleared a $1.2 billion tranche under Pakistan’s $7 billion bailout
KARACHI: Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb used his meetings in Washington this week to double down on Saudi financing support and secure a staff-level agreement with the IMF on its loan program, projecting confidence in Pakistan’s economic recovery and reform path.
The IMF’s support in September 2024 helped shore up Pakistan’s $370 billion economy following a severe economic crisis that sent its currency tumbling.
Meanwhile, Ƶ has also long been a pillar of economic support for Pakistan, giving Islamabad a $3 billion State Bank deposit, repeatedly rolled over, most recently in December 2024, and deferred oil payments of about $1.2 billion under a facility agreed in February 2025 to ease near-term pressures.
On Wednesday, Aurangzeb met Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan and held wide-ranging discussions that underlined the government’s intention to attract “strategic investments through transparency and efficiency,” according to a statement from the finance division in Islamabad.
“During the meeting, Aurangzeb briefed his Saudi counterpart on Pakistan’s privatization of state-owned enterprises, including Pakistan International Airlines and major airports, and reaffirmed Islamabad’s commitment to the IMF reform program,” the statement said after Aurangzeb met Al-Jadaan.
The Pakistani minister also urged a greater role for the World Bank Group’s private-sector arms — the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) — to help facilitate and de-risk Saudi investment in Pakistan’s infrastructure and development projects.
Aurangzeb also separately met with US Development Finance Corporation officials to pitch investment in energy, mining, agriculture, IT and pharmaceuticals. He later addressed investors at the Citi Macro Forum and met with Standard Chartered Bank executives to outline plans for further international bond and sukuk issuances, citing improved sovereign credit ratings.
In discussions with MIGA, Aurangzeb welcomed a proposed short-term trade finance facility to ensure access to essential imports such as food, fertilizer, energy and machinery. He also discussed regional cooperation with Azerbaijan’s finance leadership, pointing to recent trade and transit pacts that broaden Pakistan’s export base.
Pakistan’s macroeconomic stabilization under its IMF program has been deemed successful by the Fund in its most recent statement, citing stronger external buffers, contained inflation and improved market confidence.
“Supported by the EFF, Pakistan’s economic program is entrenching macroeconomic stability and rebuilding market confidence,” the fund said in a statement.
The IMF said the South Asian nation’s recovery remains on track, with inflation remaining contained, external buffers strengthening, and financial conditions improving as sovereign spreads narrowed significantly.
Pakistan has also pledged to maintain an appropriately tight and data-dependent monetary policy and strengthen climate resilience in the wake of recent devastating floods.
In an interview to Reuters this week, Aurangzeb said the government now plans to return to capital markets, starting with its first green bond denominated in Chinese yuan before the end of the year, followed by at least a $1 billion international bond.
With inputs from Reuters