Key allies assure govt of support to shore up economy

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s key diplomatic allies have begun discussions with the new government’s economic team to foster bilateral and multilateral economic and financial cooperation. European Union Ambassador to Pakistan Dr Riina Kionka, US and China’s envoys Donald Blome and Jiang Zaidong met Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb in the last four days. The three envoys met the finance minister at a time when Pakistan was busy reaching a Staff-Level Agreement with the International Monetary Fund to secure the release of the final tranche of $1.1 billion under the current $3bn Stand-By Arrangement (SBA). Official announcements issued after the meetings confirmed support from the three countries in various areas. The ambassadors welcomed the appointment of Mr Aurangzeb as finance minister and assured their country’s support in financial and economic relations. Meanwhile, the European Union’s delegation in Islamabad had earlier clarified that it had not received any formal communication from the PTI regarding the GSP+ status currently held by Pakistan. The PML-N government accused the PTI of writing a letter to the EU to change Pakistan’s status of GSP+. This accusation was also rejected by the PTI.