Key Points
- Finance Minister and World Bank set priorities under Country Partnership Framework
- Emphasis on boosting private investment and job creation
- Talks cover reforms, skills development and innovative financing
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Finance Minister and the World Bank’s Country Director have outlined a comprehensive agenda of investment and structural reforms aimed at translating macroeconomic stability into higher investment and job creation.
The meeting was held under the World Bank’s Country Partnership Framework, which had already earmarked $40 billion over the next ten years, $20 billion from the World Bank and $20 billion from its commercial financing arm, the International Finance Corporation.
According to an official statement issued on Thursday, Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb met World Bank Pakistan Country Director Bolormaa Amgaabazar at the Finance Division to assess progress on existing programmes and outline future areas of collaboration.
The World Bank team briefed the minister on developments in fiscal and revenue reforms, macroeconomic stabilisation efforts and policy-based engagements supported under the framework.
Both sides noted that Pakistan has made progress toward stabilising its economy through prudent fiscal and monetary policies. They were unanimous over the need to convert this stability into sustained growth and employment.
The World Bank highlighted that private investment levels remain below targets set under the framework, underscoring the importance of accelerating reforms to improve the business environment.
Discussions centred on shaping a coherent investment framework, covering state-owned enterprise reform, trade facilitation, capital market development, export competitiveness and regulatory improvements.
The Bank proposed a results-based approach, with clearly defined policy milestones, performance indicators and targeted technical assistance to support implementation of reforms.
Aurangzeb reaffirmed the government’s commitment to structural changes already underway, including tariff rationalisation, improved governance of state-owned enterprises, regulatory modernisation and transparency initiatives.
He also emphasised the importance of deepening capital markets, expanding access to long-term financing and strengthening institutional coordination to support private sector–led growth.
Employment and skills development featured prominently in the talks, with the finance minister emphasising the need for market-driven vocational and technical training aligned with domestic and overseas labour demand.
He identified sectors such as information technology, healthcare, nursing, hospitality and construction as priority areas for skills development.
The World Bank shared its work on labour mobility, skills matching and digital labour market platforms aimed at improving workforce productivity and facilitating overseas employment opportunities.
Both sides also discussed sectoral priorities, including digital services exports, agriculture and agribusiness, minerals and mining, healthcare and selected manufacturing segments
These areas were identified as potential focus areas for future World Bank-supported operations. They agreed that targeted sectoral interventions, backed by regulatory and institutional reforms, could deliver high-impact employment and export growth.
The World Bank briefed the minister on the potential use of policy-based guarantees in future programmes to assist Pakistan with its liability management. It would also cover the refinancing of high-cost debts and innovative financing approaches, contingent upon agreed policy benchmarks.
Additionally, the discussion covered climate finance, regulatory streamlining, and coordination with provincial governments.
The meeting concluded with an agreement to continue technical-level engagement to refine priorities and preparation of future World Bank-supported programmes aligned with Pakistan’s reform agenda and the objectives of the Country Partnership Framework.
