Finance Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar met Under Secretary of State Ms Catherine Novelli

Finance Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar met Under Secretary of State Ms Catherine Novelli

Federal Finance Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar met Under Secretary of State Ms Catherine Novelli and briefed her about the performance of Pakistan economy during last 22 months. Finance Minister apprised the Under Secretary about the buildup of Foreign Exchange Reserves, decline in inflation and Discount Rate and soaring remittances. Ms Novelli appreciated the marked improvement in macro indicators and observed that there was a remarkable turnaround in Pakistan economy in a short period of time. She said that US side was proposing Pakistan to join Clean US Pakistan Energy Challenge” under which US will especially support renewable energy projects. Also she offered US help in establishing a Broad band technology under private sector which will support health initiatives. In the end Ms Novelli observed that the expansion of regional trade will boost economic growth in the entire region and was therefore a win win situation for all the countries.

Finance Minister informed Ms Catherine Novelli about the recent developments on trade with Afghanistan. He said that many issues involved in Pakistan Afghan Trade have been resolved and the two countries have agreed to double the trade in the next few years. Regarding Trade with India Finance Minister observed that both sides need to restart composite dialogue which should include all issues including trade and Kashmir.

April 18, 2015
Washington D.C