WASHINGTON: The United States has agreed to help Pakistan negotiate a deal with the International Monetary Fund( IMF), politic sources told Dawn on Sunday.
before, media reports had claimed that Islamabad was “ seeking Washington’s support ” for renewing its Extended Fund Facility( EFF) with the IMF.
As the largest shareholder, the US has considerable influence over the IMF’s decision- timber.
Pakistan inked a 39- month,$ 6bn EFF in July 2019, but the Fund stopped the disbursement of about$ 3bn when the former government reneged on its commitments.
presently, Islamabad wants the IMF to not only renew disbursements, but to also expand the size and duration of the programme.
On Saturday, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States Masood Khan met Assistant US Trade Representative( USTR) for South and Central Asia Christopher Wilson to bandy expanding trade relations between the two countries and encouraging US investments in Pakistan, a statement said.
The office of the USTR is responsible for developing and coordinating US transnational trade, commodity, and for directing investment policy. It also oversees trade accommodations with other countries.
On Saturday, Ambassador Khan also met a delegation of the Wabtec company, which is the world’s leading rail company.
A statement issued after the meeting said that the Wabtec showed “ keen interest in incubating its being cooperation with Pakistan and in aiding the Pakistan Railroads in meeting its locomotive conditions. ”
Wabtec is a global provider of outfit, systems, digital results, and value- added services for the freight and conveyance rail sectors.
“ While we greatly appreciate the being position of cooperation between Wabtec and Pakistan Railroads, particularly in engineering and rail services, we look forward to serving from the company’s moxie in the modernisation of road networks and indigenisation of locomotive manufacturing in Pakistan, ” Ambassador Khan said.
