Finance Minister Ishaq Dar wound up his hectic five-day visit to the United States, after in-depth discussions with senior officials of rating agencies - the Standard & Poor and the Moody's - on Monday. A Pakistan Mission press release said that they exchanged views on the current state of Pakistan's economy and future challenges.
Afterwards, Dar flew back to Pakistan. He arrived on Sunday night in New York from Washington where he led the Pak delegation to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) meetings. He also conferred with a number of his counterparts attending those meetings and heads of international financial institutions.
The finance minister apprised the rating agencies that the current financial imbalances were largely caused by external shocks, particularly the unprecedented increase in oil and commodity prices as well as step taken by the previous government for political expediencies. For over a year, the previous regime did not pass on to the consumers the rising international oil prices.
Dar briefed the rating agencies officials about the measures taken by the government to address the situation for the remaining months of the current fiscal year.
In doing so he also reaffirmed the government's commitment to restoring macro-economic stability in a reasonable timeframe. Outlining Pakistan Government's priorities, Dar said it will focus on agriculture and large scale manufacturing as priority areas to achieve sustained growth.
There will be a variety of measures to reduce government borrowing from the State Bank with a view to slowing down the growth of money supply and controlling inflation, he added. The rating agencies officials appreciated the candid analysis of Pakistan's economic situation and expressed their confidence in the minister's ability and the policies and measures contemplated by the present government to address the situation, the press release said.
The minister was accompanied by State Bank Governor Dr Shamshad Akhtar, Finance Secretary Dr Waqar Masood, Special Secretary and Adviser on Finance Dr Ashfaq Khan and Wajid Rana, economic minister at the Pakistan Embassy in Washington.
The managing directors of sovereign ratings, John Chamber and Ms Marie Cavanaugh, led the team representing the Standard & Poor while Senior Vice-President Guindo Cipriani and Vice-President Christopher Kimbel led the team representing Moody's.
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