ISLAMABAD: US Ambassador Donald Blome on Friday met with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to dis-cuss a broad range of bilateral issues, a statement said. According to the Acting US Mission Spokesperson Thomas Montgomery, Blome and Shehbaz discussed various issues including partnering with the government of Pakistan on regional security, US support for continued economic reforms with and through the IMF, trade and investment, education, climate change, and private sector-led economic growth.
Ambassador Blome expressed US support for Pakistan’s democracy and the key role of an independ-ent press.
The ambassador and the prime minister also discussed how both countries can work together to ac-celerate projects addressing climate change under the US-Pakistan Green Alliance framework.
Meanwhile, according to state-run APP, the prime minister expressed satisfaction on the present state of bilateral relations between the two countries, emphasising the need to maintain the positive momentum by regular convening of existing dialogue mechanisms, focused on trade, investment, en-ergy, health, defence, education, agriculture and climate change.
The prime minister said that his government would focus on macro-economic reforms to stabilise the economy and attract foreign investment.
In this regard, he also highlighted the role of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) that has been established to fast-track foreign investments in priority sectors in Pakistan.
A number of issues of bilateral and regional significance were also discussed during the meeting, in-cluding the situation in Gaza and the Red Sea, developments in Afghanistan, as well as the case of Dr Aafia Siddiqui, which was raised forcefully by the prime minister.
While congratulating the prime minister on his re-election, ambassador Blome said that the US consid-ered Pakistan an important partner and hoped to work with the government to build stronger ties be-tween the two countries.
The meeting comes as the global lender called upon Pakistan to reopen discussions on the National Finance Commission (NFC) award, seeking to address the ongoing imbalance in the distribution of fis-cal resources between federal and provincial governments.
During the opening round of discussions for a $1.1 billion loan tranche, Nathan Porter, the IMF Mission Chief to Pakistan, raised concerns over the distribution of resources and responsibilities, underscoring the need for a more equitable arrangement. Representing Pakistan in these talks was Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb.
Government officials disclosed to The Express Tribune that the IMF emphasised the need to reassess the NFC award, citing disparities in resource allocation between federal and provincial authorities.
The current formula, established in 2010, resulted in provincial shares increasing from 47.5% to 57.5% of total federal taxes, without a commensurate transfer of additional responsibilities. This has led to a sustained fiscal imbalance and a rise in public debt.
The Pakistani authorities informed the IMF that the provincial shares cannot be reduced without bring-ing a constitutional amendment and making all the provinces agree to a new formula.
The 2010 NFC award had been agreed for a period of five years but since then there has not been any consensus to revisit it. –Agencies
