Ishaq Dar Backs Out of IMF-World Bank Meetings Scheduled for Next Week

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has axed next week’s trip to the United States to meet with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.

Citing “domestic state of affairs” as the reason for the pull-out, Dar has decided not to attend the World Bank-IMF spring meetings scheduled to take place in Washington from April 10 to 16.

The trip to Washington has been canceled amid the deepening political uncertainty in the country. Dar had originally planned to address concerns about the government’s continuity, future economic plans, and bridging the trust deficit with multilateral lenders next week. Seems like he won’t be able to do that after all.

By default, Minister of Economic Affairs Sardar Ayaz Sadiq will also not travel to the United States. The government would be represented at the WB-IMF spring meetings by Finance Secretary Hamed Yaqoob Sheikh and Economic Affairs Secretary Kazim Niaz.

Pertinently, the decision by the finance minister to withdraw may also result in the cancellation of meetings with his Saudi Arabian counterpart and the UK state minister for development.

Dar was scheduled to begin his trip on Monday with a meeting with Nathan Porter, the IMF’s Mission Chief in Pakistan. The meeting was critical because Pakistan and the IMF were no longer actively negotiating following the government’s decision to announce petrol subsidies.

Besides the IMF and WB, Dar was scheduled to meet with representatives from the three international credit rating agencies that had downgraded Pakistan. The finance ministry had also scheduled meetings with foreign commercial banks in order to persuade them to release loans.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan delegation may still get to meet with IMF’s deputy managing director Antoinette Sayeh, who follows Pakistan closely. It isn’t confirmed whether a meeting with Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva would happen or not. Some reports have cited diplomatic protocol issues which prevent low-ranking dignitaries from meeting presidents/directors/leaders of various multilateral institutions and finance ministers from various countries.