Minister of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, Mr. Ahsan Iqbal has expressed disappointment over the lack of interest and neglect of a $3 billion investment opportunity in various projects by the high-level inter-ministerial task force on multilateral development finance.
During a meeting held on 16 August, Ahsan Iqbal and the Minister of Economic Affairs, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said that the task force had given zero input and shown interest in the projects for which the country could get $3 billion funding, reported Business Recorder.
Ahsan Iqbal highlighted the purpose behind forming the task force and said that the country needed to furnish impactful, bankable, and strategically important projects for multilateral development finance. He noted that the working groups had not met for more than a year to discuss projects for financing.
Sardar Ayaz Sadiq shared the results of a monitoring study and said that there were 31 problematic foreign-funded projects at a huge cost on account of commitment charges and cost over-run. He called for the development of a proper mechanism for the selection of priority projects for foreign funding.
After the discussion, the meeting decided to include two representatives from academia and three renowned relevant sector experts from the private sector in each working group. Further, the concerned ministries were directed to convene meetings of respective working groups to identify impactful and bankable projects for consideration by the high-level task force. Lastly, the members of the high-level task force were asked to present their projects in the next meeting of the task force which is scheduled for 30 August.
