PM Shehbaz to leave for Geneva today, will present case of Pakistan's flood victims

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Sunday that he will leave for Geneva today to co-host the International Conference on Resilient Pakistan along with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres to "present the case of flood victims before the world."

In a Twitter thread, the premier highlighted that bridging the funding gap was key to "restore critical infrastructure, rebuild lives and livelihoods and revive the economy."

PM Shehbaz said he will place a comprehensive post-disaster framework plan for recovery, rehabilitation, and reconstruction with resilience before development partners and friendly countries.

"I will also throw light on steps my govt has taken for relief and rehabilitation."

The premier stressed that "humanity is at an inflexion point in world history," adding: "Our actions today will shape the resilient future for our succeeding generations."

"Millions of Pakistanis affected by unprecedented devastation look for compassion & solidarity to build back better."

Pakistan is eying generating around $8 billion from the international community and donor agencies for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the flood-affected people at the International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan.

Diplomatic sources said that a total of $16.8 billion will be required for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of more than 33 million flood-affected people in Pakistan.

“We are trying our level best to arrange half ($8.1 billion) of the total $16.8 billion from our own resources and for the remaining ($8.1 billion), we are hopeful that the international community will extend its support generously so that the vast affected population of the country is rehabilitated,” a diplomatic source said.

When asked how the massive amount of around $8 billion could be arranged in such a grave economic situation, he explained that the amount would not be spent in one go, rather it is a process. The amount would be generated from Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP), as well as, from the public-private partnership.

To another question, he said that to the UN flash appeal of $816 million, more than $200 million have been received so far from the international community.

In an informal interaction, a senior Foreign Office official said that Pakistan, in coordination with the donor agencies, will present the “Resilient, Recovery, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Framework” before the International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan being held in Geneva on January 9.

IMF delegation expected to meet Finance Minister Dar in Geneva

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation is expected to meet with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on the sidelines of the Geneva conference on Monday (January 9), a spokesperson for the Washington-based lender told Business Recorder.

“The (IMF) Managing Director (Kristalina Georgieva) had a constructive call with Prime Minister (Shehbaz) Sharif in the context of the International Conference on Resilient Pakistan to be held in Geneva on Monday, January 9,” the IMF spokesperson stated via message on Sunday morning.

“The MD again expressed her sympathy to those directly affected by the floods and supported Pakistan’s efforts to build a more resilient recovery.

“The IMF delegation is expected to meet with Finance Minister Dar on the sidelines of the Geneva conference to discuss outstanding issues and the path forward.”

While the IMF Executive Board completed the combined seventh and eighth reviews of the Extended Arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Pakistan at the end of August, the programme has moved at a slower pace since then.

This sluggish progress comes at a time of fast-depleting foreign exchange reserves, which clocked in at a meagre $5.6 billion last week, and are set to fall further after sources in the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) confirmed that the country paid back $600 million to the Emirates NBD Bank, and $420 million to the Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) on Friday.

Delay in the IMF programme has been reportedly attributed to unwillingness on part of Pakistan authorities to implement some prior conditions that feature topics of a flexible exchange rate, power sector’s losses, and mobilising additional tax revenues.

However, PM Shehbaz on Friday said Pakistan remained committed to completing the IMF programme, adding that he had a constructive conversation with Georgieva and invited her to attend the Geneva conference, according to state-run APP.

Georgieva, who also chairs the IMF Executive Board, said she would be able to join the conference virtually as board meetings had been prefixed for January 9 -10, according to the APP report.