Meeting with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in Islamabad on April 6, 2023 is US Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome (on the left).
ISLAMABAD: While the economy remains precarious, officials said Thursday that US Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome promised Finance Minister Ishaq Dar of extending his nation’s assistance to help Pakistan negotiate a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for renewing the bailout plan.
According to the sources who spoke with Geo News, the development occurred at a meeting between the two in the federal capital, during which the ambassador was updated on the status of the program of the Washington-based lender.
According to reports, FinMin Dar asked the US ambassador to help unlock the rescue program after telling him of a $2 billion pledge from Saudi Arabia and that negotiations with the United Arab Emirates about funding $1 billion were in progress.
The minister informed the ambassador that “we need additional funding and resources,” and Blome responded by assuring him of US support.
Dar informed the representative of the nation’s economic prospects and its problems, according to an official statement from the Ministry of Finance.
He also discussed the government’s practical policy choices that have been made to stop the economy’s slide and direct it in a direction that will promote stability and growth.
According to the statement, Blome expressed confidence in the government’s policies and programs being implemented to ensure the nation’s economic stability and the socioeconomic advancement of the majority of its citizens. He pledged his support for further fostering bilateral trade, investment, and economic ties between the two nations.
The two sides also discussed issues of mutual importance and expressed a desire in strengthening their already-existing bilateral ties. They also discussed how to further deepen the commercial relations between the two nations.
Days before the meeting with Blome, FinMin Dar had a business discussion with Hamad Obaid Ibrahim Salim Al-Zaabi, the UAE ambassador to Pakistan.
To close its balance of payment imbalance for this fiscal year, which ends in June, the IMF has requested Pakistan to get guarantees on external finance from allies and multilateral partners.
From the beginning of February, Islamabad has been the host city for an IMF mission negotiating a series of policy changes to win $1.1 billion in finance for the cash-strapped economy that is on the point of collapse.
The money is part of a rescue package of $6.5 billion that the IMF authorized in 2019, which experts believe is essential for Pakistan to avoid defaulting on its responsibilities for foreign payments.
