ISLAMABAD: “Amid global tariff war, trade tensions will affect Pakistan maybe more than the average in the region.”
This was stated by Jihad Azour, Director of Middle East and Central Asia Department, International Monetary Fund (IMF) during a press briefing on the Regional Economic Outlook for the Middle East and Central Asia.
Replying to a question regarding impact of global tariff war on Pakistan, Azour said that of course trade tensions will affect Pakistan relatively maybe more than the average in the region.
He further said that the impact on Pakistan directly can be offset by other measures that would allow the Pakistani economy to reposition itself in a world that is in the midst of one of the largest transformation in terms of trade, economic opportunities, and to reposition itself in order to address any risks, but also to potentially benefit from change in the trade routes.
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He further said that a few countries have more exposure to the US trade like Pakistan or Jordan, and those are specific cases. In any change, there are opportunities, and over the last few years successive shocks and transformation on the geopolitical front were seen and the geo-economic front, and those have affected the region.
The region stands at the crossroads between East and West, and therefore trade routes, connectivity, as well as also opportunities go through this region. This would require for countries in the region to seek new opportunities in terms of strengthening their economic relationships and trade ties with regions close to them, as well as within countries in the region, which will call for new way of increasing connectivity and cooperation in the region, he added.
The IMF official further said that Pakistan made significant progress in restoring macroeconomic stability over the last 18 months and the numbers are, for Pakistan, showing improvement both in terms of growth as well as also in inflation that dropped from 12.6 percent last year in 2024 fiscal year to 6.5 percent this year, expected to stay at this level for next year. Debt is also stabilizing in the case of Pakistan, and recently Pakistan has been upgraded by rating agencies, Azour added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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