The recent upgrade of Pakistan’s credit rating by Fitch is “good external validation” that the country is on the right track, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Wednesday.
Mr Aurangzeb made the comments during a discussion at the Centre for Global Development, a Washington-based think tank that seeks to reduce international poverty through economic and policy research.
Debt burdens, inflation, rising energy costs, youth unemployment and climate vulnerability have taken a toll on Pakistan’s economy over the past decade. Yet in the last year, there have been some indications of improvement: inflation fell to 1.5 per cent in March, to a level not reached since 2015.
Mr Aurangzeb, who was chief executive of Pakistan's largest bank HBL before being appointed Finance Minister in 2024, said the country’s policy changes related to taxation, energy and state-owned enterprises have started to show progress.
“We are where we are in terms of macroeconomic stability,” he said. “Currency stability and inflation rates are very good stories to tell.”
Late last year, the Finance Minister said during discussions at the International Monetary Fund that Pakistan’s economy had “stopped the bleeding” and that the country was clamping down on tax evasion, with penalties for non-compliance being taken to “punitive levels”.
Also at the time, he said privatisation efforts were long overdue.
“The government has no business being in business,” he said. “The private sector has to lead the country and step up.”
On Wednesday, however, he acknowledged that efforts on privatisation had fallen short.
“Privatisation is one thing where we didn’t make progress,” he said, explaining that he remained optimistic about those efforts, especially with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif appointing new privatisation chiefs.
“Under the new chairman, we’re hoping to relaunch Pakistan International Airlines,” Mr Aurangzeb said, referring to the country’s debt-ridden carrier.
Generating revenue through enforced taxation and privatisation is a major component of Pakistan’s $7 billion bailout programme approved by the IMF last year.
Mr Aurangzeb was also asked about the increasingly uncertain economic outlook prompted by US President Donald Trump's tariff threats.
“If you look at the weighted average tariff on US imports into Pakistan, it's a little over 7 per cent,” he said. “If you look at it for Pakistan's exports to the US, it's about 10 per cent. We import cotton and it's already zeroed out, so the tariffs aren't the main issue.”
He said he was more concerned at the imbalance of trade. “We export a little over $5 billion and we import a little more than $2 billion,” he added.
He also said Pakistan was closely examining the idea of producing and exporting more agricultural products such as soy beans to bolster the economy and nullify trade imbalance.
“We feel we can narrow it down by a considerable amount,” Mr Aurangzeb said.
His appearance in Washington coincides with the IMF and World Bank’s Spring Meetings, in which he will also participate throughout the week.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
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Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah To The Last Goodbye
By Dave Lory with Jim Irvin
UK's plans to cut net migration
Under the UK government’s proposals, migrants will have to spend 10 years in the UK before being able to apply for citizenship.
Skilled worker visas will require a university degree, and there will be tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages.
But what are described as "high-contributing" individuals such as doctors and nurses could be fast-tracked through the system.
Language requirements will be increased for all immigration routes to ensure a higher level of English.
Rules will also be laid out for adult dependants, meaning they will have to demonstrate a basic understanding of the language.
The plans also call for stricter tests for colleges and universities offering places to foreign students and a reduction in the time graduates can remain in the UK after their studies from two years to 18 months.
The five pillars of Islam
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Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
FIXTURES
All kick-off times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Friday
Sevilla v Levante (midnight)
Saturday
Athletic Bilbao v Real Sociedad (7.15pm)
Eibar v Valencia (9.30pm)
Atletico Madrid v Alaves (11.45pm)
Sunday
Girona v Getafe (3pm)
Celta Vigo v Villarreal (7.15pm)
Las Palmas v Espanyol (9.30pm)
Barcelona v Deportivo la Coruna (11.45pm)
Monday
Malaga v Real Betis (midnight)
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The five pillars of Islam
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo
Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic
Power: 242bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Price: Dh136,814
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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More on animal trafficking
