Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh called on Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Sunday at the Prime Minister’s House and briefed him on his recent visit to the United States.
Shaikh told the prime minister that the objective of his visit was to have a dialogue with the US on the full range of economic relations including trade enhancement, investment promotion, assistance in the energy sector and launching investment funds.
He said during the course of his visit he met US representatives in the State Department, Department of Treasury, USAID, US Trade Representative, US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Head of OPIC and the US Chamber of Commerce and the Carnegie Institute to project Pakistan’s achievements.
Shaikh told Ashraf that the US government had reaffirmed its commitment to releasing $600 million for the Coalition Support Fund, to rehabilitate power distribution systems and electricity plants at Guddu, Jamshoro and Muzaffargarh and committed to support the completion of Diamar Bhasha Dam, for which $200 million had been approved.
The minister also briefed the prime minister on his meetings with the managements of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The World Bank programme in Pakistan showed a high level collaboration of $1.8 billion covering projects in energy, infrastructure and social sector.
Ashraf praised the efforts of the financial team, led by Shaikh, and its success in winning international support for Pakistan’s economic programme.
