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Pakistan’s Finance Minister, Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb, began his official visit to Washington with a series of high-level meetings on the sidelines of the 2025 Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group, focusing on deepening economic partnerships and advancing critical reforms.
Muhammad Aurangzeb also thanked the IMF for reaching a Staff-Level Agreement on the First Review under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and a new arrangement under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), marking a significant step in Pakistan’s economic recovery and reform agenda.
According to an official statement issued by the Finance Ministry early Tuesday morning, the finance minister began his engagements on Monday by conducting a series of strategic meetings in Washington, D.C.
In his first meeting of the day, the Finance Minister met with the Deloitte delegation and apprised them of Pakistan’s macroeconomic outlook, the government’s sectoral development agenda, and its export-led growth priorities. Both sides explored potential collaboration in energy sector reforms, critical minerals extraction and marketing, privatization, technology, crypto policy, and the operationalization of the Country Partnership Framework (CPF). Minister Aurangzeb also welcomed Deloitte’s planned visit to Pakistan in May 2025 to further deepen the engagement.
Later, Minister Aurangzeb met with Ms. Hela Cheikhrouhou, Regional Vice President of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and discussed private sector reforms, energy transition, sound municipal finance, and full employment initiatives. He reviewed progress on Diversified Payment Rights (DPR) and commended the IFC’s pivotal role in securing $2.5 billion in debt financing for the Reko Diq Copper & Gold Mine Project in Balochistan. The Minister emphasized the importance of ensuring that local communities benefit from the project’s economic gains.
During his meeting with IMF Managing Director Ms. Kristalina Georgieva, Minister Aurangzeb thanked the IMF team for reaching the Staff-Level Agreement under the EFF and the new arrangement under the RSF. He reiterated the Government of Pakistan’s commitment to maintaining reform momentum and conveyed an invitation from the Prime Minister of Pakistan for Ms. Georgieva to visit the country.
The Finance Minister also held a meeting with Mr. Robert Kaproth, Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and briefed him on Pakistan’s improving macroeconomic indicators. He highlighted ongoing reforms in taxation, energy, privatization, state-owned enterprises (SOEs), pensions, and debt management. The Minister underscored the significance of the World Bank’s CPF in addressing Pakistan’s critical challenges, including population growth and climate resilience.
In a meeting with Mr. Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group, the Finance Minister expressed gratitude for the World Bank’s historical support to Pakistan. He commended the Bank’s leadership for developing a transformative CPF — a decade-long strategic roadmap centered around measurable impacts and outcomes.
Muhammad Aurangzeb also appreciated the World Bank’s ongoing assistance in developing a comprehensive implementation strategy and action plan to operationalize the CPF while simultaneously enhancing overall efficiency.
The Finance Minister provided a detailed overview of Pakistan’s macroeconomic turnaround and reaffirmed the government’s unwavering commitment to ensuring sustainable economic stability.
Earlier in the day, at a luncheon hosted by the US-Pakistan Business Council at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Finance Minister engaged with American corporate leaders, outlining Pakistan’s economic progress and reform measures in taxation, energy, SOEs, and privatization.
The Finance Minister emphasized the importance of regional trade, market diversification, and sectoral expansion. He thanked the U.S. delegation for participating in the Pakistan Mineral Investment Forum 2025 and expressed Pakistan’s commitment to continued collaboration in the mining and minerals sector. He welcomed the upcoming visit of the Business Council delegation to Pakistan in early May 2025 and assured full facilitation in arranging meetings with relevant stakeholders.
Finance Minister Aurangzeb concluded the day by meeting with Mohamed Nasheed, Secretary General of the Climate Vulnerable Forum & Vulnerable 20 (CVF-V20). Minister Aurangzeb appreciated the recent visit of the CVF Secretariat team to Pakistan and their collaborative efforts to develop a Climate Prosperity Plan (CPP), which identifies financing avenues for climate-resilient projects.
The Minister also highlighted Pakistan’s landmark decade-long CPF with the World Bank, noting that four of its six key outcomes directly address the existential challenges of climate change and population growth. The Minister also provided updates on progress under the IMF’s RSF and reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to finalizing CPP projects through a phased financing approach.
