ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s path to sustainable economic recovery and poverty alleviation rests on comprehensive reforms that prioritise human capital, macroeconomic stability, climate resilience, sustainable energy, and private sector growth.
This was stated by the World Bank Managing Director for Operations, Anna Bjerde, at the conclusion of a two-day visit to Pakistan.
She commended the authorities for the reform momentum and stressed the need for continuity in implementation to sustain economic stability and to elicit a stronger investment and growth response by the private sector.
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Anna Bjerde met with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and expressed her appreciation for the collaboration on the new 10-year World Bank Group Country Partnership Framework with Pakistan. They also discussed the need for coordinated reforms at the federal and provincial levels to ensure sustained and inclusive growth.
The World Bank official said, “during my visit, we discussed the next steps on the reform agenda of the government, especially in the fiscal, digital, and energy sectors, as well as the potential of the country in terms of private-led growth and entrepreneurship, particularly to create quality jobs for women and youth.”
She also met the Minister of Economic Affairs and Governor of the World Bank Group, Ahad Khan Cheema; the Minister of Finance and Revenue, Muhammad Aurangzeb; the Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, Ahsan Iqbal; the Minister of Energy (Power Division), Sardar Awais Laghari; the Minister for Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety, Syed Imran Ahmad Shah; the Chairperson Benazir Income Support Programme, Rubina Khalid; the Chairman Federal Board of Revenue, Rashid Mahmood Langrial; as well as members of the National Assembly, the Senate, women leaders and other senior government representatives.
The discussions focused on implementing the Country Partnership Framework to help address the most critical socio-economic challenges of the country, in terms of human capital development, particularly for women and girls, access to water and sanitation, climate resilience, and natural disaster risk reduction, and the foundations of private-led growth and job creation.
Bjerde had the opportunity to visit the World Bank-supported project sites in Shaheed Benazirabad District in Sindh, where she was accompanied by Chief Minister Sindh, Murad Ali Shah, and Sindh Minister of Health, Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho. She and the World Bank delegation were hosted by the First Lady of Pakistan and member of National Assembly, Aseefa Bhutto Zardari. The visit included meetings with beneficiaries and staff of the 2022 Sindh Flood Emergency Housing Reconstruction Project, as well as an exchange with the medical staff and female patients of a Basic Health Unit supported by the National Health Support Programme.
While in Sindh, Bjerde exchanged with Chief Minister Shah and members of his Cabinet on ongoing and planned projects to support the development of the province.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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