Country to honour its obligations as a responsible sovereign borrower: Aurangzeb

WASHINGTON: Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb, spoke at the Atlantic Council on the topic “Pakistan’s Path to Reform and Resilience.”

In his remarks, the Finance Minister underscored Pakistan’s emergence as a constructive force in global affairs, including its role in brokering a ceasefire between the United States and Iran.

On the economic front, he affirmed that Pakistan had achieved meaningful macroeconomic stabilisation, underpinned by the ongoing programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and supported by strong performance across both fiscal and external accounts. He reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to honouring its obligations as a responsible sovereign borrower.

The Finance Minister further noted that his recent engagement with the Saudi Finance Minister had yielded positive outcomes, including agreement on extended maturities and additional financial support to help offset repayment pressures.

Highlighting the Government’s structural reform agenda, he outlined key initiatives including the privatisation of state-owned enterprises, rightsizing of federal ministries, and strengthening of public finance management systems.

He also elaborated on Pakistan’s ongoing digital transformation, aimed at reducing leakages, improving service delivery, and enabling better-targeted subsidy programmes through digital public infrastructure.

The Finance Minister signalled a shift in Pakistan–United States economic relations from an aid-based to a trade-based partnership, and noted substantive engagement with the U.S. administration on critical minerals and infrastructure development.

In his concluding remarks, he highlighted Pakistan’s energy transition agenda, noting that the country currently has approximately 8,000 MW of installed solar capacity and is pursuing an ambitious plan to scale up renewable energy.

The session concluded with an interactive question and answer session.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026