In meeting with World Bank chief, Pakistan reiterates resolve to address power sector woes

Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin said the government was keen on reforming the country's energy sector and remains committed to reducing circular debt in a meeting with World Bank Managing Director Axel van Trotsenburg.

Flanked by top officials and fellow ministers, a high-level delegation held a meeting with Trotsenburg at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington DC.

The meeting came on the sidelines of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) annual meetings 2021.

The delegation comprised Dr Asad Majeed Khan, Ambassador, Dr Murtaza Syed, Deputy Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), and Naveed Kamran Baloch, Alternate Executive Director World Bank.

Federal ministers including Omar Ayub Khan, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Hammad Azhar, Federal Minister for Energy joined the meeting virtually from Islamabad, read a statement received from Washington DC.

Tarin appreciated the World Bank's support to Pakistan, and highlighted the measures taken by the government to accelerate completion of projects funded by the institution.

Tarin optimistic about IMF response

The finance minister assured that the government was keen to reform the power sector in the country with a special focus on reducing circular debt. Tarin reiterated that the government is fully committed to implementing structural reforms, protecting social spending, and boosting social safety nets in order to protect the vulnerable segments of society.

In an interview at a session arranged by the United States Institute of Peace on ‘Pakistan’s economic future', Tarin had said that there were some problems on the power side, including excess capacity, for which the government had to pay, adding that the performance of distribution and generation companies was also being improved.

Meanwhile, Minister for Energy Hamad Azhar shared the measures being taken by the government to reform the power sector and rationalise power sector subsidies.

World Bank chief Axel van Trotsenburg informed the delegation of the importance that the WB places on cooperation with Pakistan, and said that it was looking forward to continuing it in the future.

He said that the World Bank was partnering with Pakistan in implementing one of the largest programmes, and acknowledged that a lot of progress has been made on implementation of structural reforms in various sectors.