ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar will skip the annual spring meetings of the boards of governors of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
According to reports received here from the ministry, the move comes amid the ongoing political unrest in the country. The meeting is scheduled to be held from April 10 to April 16 in Washington, and Ishaq Dar was supposed to travel this week to attend it.
Instead of Finance Minister, the Secretaries of Finance and Economic Affairs Division and Governor SBP (State Bank of Pakistan) will lead the Pakistani delegation in the meetings.
This decision was made to ensure the representation of Pakistan at crucial and important meetings and to keep up with the country’s economic agenda.
Ishaq Dar’s Role in World Bank, IMF Meetings
Financial Experts are of the opinion that the participation of finance minister Dar is crucial in the upcoming meeting next week as talks with IMF are still on, while the upcoming meeting might be a breakthrough and a golden opportunity for Dar to convince IMF to expedite the loan process.
Economy Expert Saifulah Khan said that Political unrest in the country was not an issue that appeared yesterday or a couple of days before but months long, and to tackle these issues, other cabinet members, Prime Minister and the whole PDM are there. Dar should focus on his ministry and should compensate for the time he wasted while dealing with the IMF, Saifullah Khan added.
