Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb held a meeting with Scott Jacobs, the Managing Director (MD) of Jacobs, Cordova and Associates on Monday to discuss regulatory reforms in Pakistan.
As per a statement released by the Finance Division, the meeting focused on the subject of reforms aimed at improving the regulatory environment in the country to improve entrepreneurship, innovation and investment.
“Jacobs presented a comprehensive proposal to streamline the regulatory system, suggesting a thorough review of standardized processes to achieve significant results,” read the statement.
Jacobs, Cordova and Associates is a US-based consulting firm, specialising in designing and implementing improvements in the quality of government regulators and regulations, based on multidisciplinary approaches of microeconomics, rule of law, and new public management.
Meanwhile, during the meeting, Aurangzeb acknowledged the importance of these reforms and underscored the need for impact-driven assistance to ensure the successful implementation of these reforms.
“The discussions also centered on identifying specific areas where reforms are urgently needed to optimize operations and regulatory frameworks.
“Both parties agreed on the importance of a structured approach to regulatory reforms,” added the statement.
Secretary Board of Investment (BoI) and officials from relevant ministries/divisions were also present in the meeting.
Days ago, while addressing the ground-breaking ceremony of the Head Office Building of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Aurangzeb said the government would “move forward” with structural reforms in key sectors as it cannot “defer this agenda” anymore.
The finance minister reiterated that under the umbrella of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the government would move forward with structural reforms in taxation, energy, State-Owned Entities (SOEs) and privatisation.
“We have to move forward because we do not have the space and the room anymore to defer this agenda,” he said.
Last month, authorities in Islamabad reached a staff-level agreement (SLA) with the IMF for a $7-billion, 37-month loan programme aimed at cementing stability and inclusive growth.
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