Finance Minister meets French Ambassador Nicholas Galey

Celina Ali

Islamabad: Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb held a meeting with Mr. Nicholas Galey, Ambassador of France to Pakistan, who called on the Minister at Finance Division Tuesday.

During the meeting which was also attended by Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Mr. Ali Pervaiz Malik and Chairman FBR Mr. Rashid Mahmood Langrial, issues of mutual interest, including bilateral cooperation and collaboration in trade, commerce and socio-economic sectors, were discussed.

Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb shared with the French Ambassador an update on the state of the economy and the significant improvement manifested in macroeconomic indicators during the last 14 months. He said the management of twin deficits, a stable currency, surging remittances and a steady rise in foreign reserves could provide Pakistan enough room to access the international capital market in coming months for enhanced institutional flows.

The Minister stressed that the wide-ranging reforms undertaken in various sectors, particularly in taxation, energy, privatization and governance, were a work in progress, and geared towards changing the DNA of the economy for an export-led growth and encouraging FDI that generates exportable surplus. Mr. Nocholas Galey appreciated the government’s reform agenda and the macroeconomic stability achieved on various economic fronts. He also appreciated the government’s resolve to stay the course and ensure permanence to macroeconomic stability by meeting the structural benchmarks agreed with the IMF.