ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh attended a video conference held by International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief along with finance heads of developing countries.
The meeting was attended by ministers and governors of Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan (MENAP) region of the IMF on the occasion of Managing Director IMF Kristalina Georgieva.
The discussion focused on the impact of Coronavirus on the economies of the region, lessons learnt through the experiences. and policy guidelines to be adopted to deal with the crisis of such magnitude.
The participants thanked the IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva and her team for arranging the discussion and highlighted the need to play a more effective role as a multilateral development partner whose advice would be of much value and importance according to the needs of the changing times.
The participants agreed that the virus has exposed the world’s need for health spending and focus more on technological solutions to various problems. It was observed that after the first wave of the pandemic, almost all countries have lost a significant share of their GDP and unemployment has become the biggest challenge.
It was agreed if the second wave comes, losses will be massive and the achievement made by some countries during the crisis will be lost if the preventive measures are not adopted as a part of their everyday life.
The participants praised the Debt Suspension Initiative of the G-20 and said that there is also a need to provide more finances to the vulnerable economies. There was consensus that employment generation, equality and inclusion will be the new challenges from the perspective of women and youth and new strategies will be needed to help the women and youth in the region.
The finance adviser said that the pandemic has undone a considerable share of the achievements of the government in Pakistan. Though there were fiscal constraints, the government has devised a strategy to provide direct cash transfers to people and businesses.
He said the government is determined to provide employment and fight inequality. He reiterated that if the government wants to continue economic reforms, there are two real challenges and arranging funding for pro-poor expenditures and prioritizing the need for development spending.
Adviser Finance observed that incurring more expenditure to provide for the people at or below the poverty line will require more borrowing as it would not be possible to increase taxes at a time of declining growth in the economy. He said that there was a need to adopt a coherent strategy with the partner countries in the region for development.
