By Ali Imran
ISLAMABAD: US Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome on Wednesday expressed optimism about ongoing negotia-tions between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), saying that positive feedback from the Fund would serve to encourage investors, according to a statement from the Senate chair-man’s office.
The IMF’s executive board will meet on April 29 to discuss the approval of $1.1 billion in funding for Pakistan, the Fund said today. The funding is the second and last tranche of a $3 billion standby ar-rangement with the IMF, which the country secured last summer to avert a sovereign default and which runs out this month.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb recently said the country is on track to secure a new loan from the IMF, adding that the money lender had been “very receptive in terms of agreeing to consider a larger, longer programme”.
Blome visited Senate Chairman Yousuf Raza Gilani today at the Parliament House for a “constructive dialogue aimed at strengthening bilateral relations and fostering mutual interests”.
“Ambassador Blome commended the new economic team of Pakistan and expressed optimism re-garding the ongoing discussions between Pakistan and the IMF. He praised the efforts of the Pakistan economic team and emphasised the potential for further economic cooperation between Pakistan and the US.
“Acknowledging the positive economic indicators of Pakistan, Blome noted the downward trend in inflation and high dollar reserves, stating that the IMF’s positive feedback would encourage investors,” said a post from the X account of the Senate chairman’s office.
Mentioning the important economic partnership between the two countries, Gilani said that the US was Pakistan’s largest trading partner and thanked its government for cooperation with Pakistan in various fields.
He also emphasised the need to increase trade links and trade volume between the two countries.
Blome also highlighted the “flourishing gaming industry” in Pakistan and called for enhanced coopera-tion in the digital sector
The ambassador congratulated Gilani on his election as the Senate chairman and expressed his best wishes for him. Various aspects of the “lasting friendship” between Pakistan and the US were also dis-cussed in detail in the meeting.
“Expressing Pakistan’s determination to promote long-standing friendly relations with the US, Gilani emphasised the importance of further promoting parliamentary relations between the two coun-tries,” the statement said, adding that the Senate chairman stressed the “pivotal role” that parliamen-tary contacts could play in enhancing public and legislative engagement.
Gilani said there was a strong parliamentary caucus in the US Congress to promote bilateral relations and a process was under way to reconstitute the friendship group after the Senate polls.
“This would help promote mutually beneficial ties and give Parliamentary diplomacy a chance to build strong people-to-people contacts,” the statement said.
Gilani also emphasised the challenges faced by Pakistani students and businessmen in obtaining US visas and stressed the need to further streamline the visa process.
Meanwhile, Ambassador Blome acknowledged Pakistan’s anti-terrorism efforts and reiterated US support in the war against terrorism.
The Senate chairman emphasised that it was time to speed up efforts to establish peace in Palestine and advocated for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza so that lasting peace could be achieved in the re-gion. Ambassador Blome agreed with Gilani’s views, as per the statement.
It added that the meeting underscored the “shared commitment of Pakistan and the United States to fostering peace, stability, and cooperation in the region”.
