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KARACHI: Pakistani Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Thursday held high-level interactions with officials from the United States (US), China and Japan in Washington DC, seeking to deepen Pakistan’s economic partnerships, advance reform efforts, and promote digital and sustainable growth.

The interactions were held on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank meetings as Islamabad strives for a sustained economic recovery under a $7 billion IMF loan program, secured in September last year.

Aurangzeb delivered a keynote address at the Atlantic Council on ‘Reform Efforts in Pakistan & the Challenges Ahead,’ at which he highlighted external validation of the country’s reform agenda by the IMF and international rating agencies.

He detailed reforms planned for Pakistan Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), reconstitution of the National Finance Commission (NFC), measures to boost private sector-led growth, and a liberal tariff policy aimed at increasing competitiveness and exports.

“The Finance Minister held a productive meeting with Congressman French Hill, Chairman of the US House Financial Services Committee,” the Pakistani finance ministry said in a statement. “Both sides discussed avenues to deepen Pakistan–US economic and financial cooperation, with particular emphasis on the digitization of financial services, the new economy, mineral development, and broader IT collaboration.”

Aurangzeb then met Liao Min, Deputy Finance Minister of China, and briefed him on the recently concluded staff-level agreement (SLA) with the IMF for a $1.2 billion loan tranche, describing it as a strong external validation of Pakistan’s economic reform agenda.

He apprised Liao of the latest progress on the issuance of Panda Bonds in the Chinese market and sought China’s support for Pakistan’s membership in the New Development Bank.

“The Minister welcomed further investment from Chinese companies in ICT, agriculture, industry, and mineral sectors, and extended an invitation to the Deputy Finance Minister to visit Pakistan,” the finance ministry said.

In his meeting with the S&P Global team, Aurangzeb noted that all three major rating agencies are now aligned in their outlook on Pakistan, terming these developments as evidence of the external confidence in the government’s reform trajectory.

He delivered a keynote address at a Regional Roundtable on Digital Transformation in Tax Administration, organized by the World Bank, sharing details of the Transformation Plan for the FBR aimed at building a modern, transparent, and efficient tax administration. Highlighting that tax collection increased from 8.8 percent of GDP in 2024 to 10.24 percent in 2025, he elaborated on the end-to-end digitalization of core processes, use of digital tools for economic integration and documentation, and Pakistan Customs’ initiatives to curb under-invoicing and enhance trade facilitation.

The finance minister also met with Nobumitsu Hayashi, Governor of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), and welcomed JBIC’s formal commitment to join the Reko Diq lender group, noting that this move would strengthen investor confidence and encourage Japanese businesses to expand their presence in Pakistan.

Located in the insurgency-hit Balochistan province, the Reko Diq mines have one of the world’s largest gold and copper deposits. The project has the potential to generate $90 billion over the next 37 years.

“He (Aurangzeb) emphasized the government’s priority on ensuring security for foreign investors and identified new avenues for bilateral cooperation,” the Pakistani finance ministry said.

In another meeting with Bangladesh Special Envoy Lutfey Y. Siddiqi, the finance minister reaffirmed the critical role of the private sector in leading economic growth, supported by a public sector ecosystem, according to Aurangzeb’s ministry. Both officials agreed on the IT sector’s game-changing potential to create quality graduate jobs and emphasized the need for knowledge-sharing and capacity-building.

The finance minister also addressed a JP Morgan Investment seminar on Pakistan’s Economic & Monetary Policy Outlook, briefing investors on the positive momentum of the economy fueled by sound macro management and enhanced fiscal and external sector stability. In parallel, Governor State Bank of Pakistan, Jameel Ahmed, and other officials conducted important sideline meetings with officials from Moody’s and the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC).

KARACHI: Pakistan intends to increase its tax-to-gross domestic product ratio from the existing 10.2 percent to 11 percent this year, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Thursday, as Islamabad pushes for economic reforms.

Pakistan has lately introduced several reforms to ensure economic stability and to meet structural benchmarks under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) program Islamabad secured last year.

The South Asian country has one of the lowest tax-to-GDP ratios in the region, despite a population of more than 240 million, and has often failed to meet its tax collection targets.

Speaking at the Atlantic Council in Washington, Aurangzeb outlined initiatives to bring agriculture, retail and real-estate sectors into the tax net, improve compliance through technology and AI-driven analytics.

“He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to raise the tax-to-GDP ratio from 10.2 percent to 11 percent this year, and to 13 percent over the medium term, ensuring fiscal sustainability,” the Pakistani finance ministry said.

In June, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government set a record-high tax collection target of Rs14.13 trillion ($47.4 billion) for the fiscal year 2025–26, marking a 9 percent increase from the previous year. Officials say meeting this goal is essential to reducing reliance on external debt and ensuring long-term fiscal sustainability.

Since then, the prime minister has approved modern digital ecosystem for the revenue watchdog to increase its collection and the launch of simplified digital tax returns to increase compliance and widen the country’s narrow tax base.

Pakistan’s economy has lately shown some signs of stabilization under a $7 billion IMF bailout. The program helped ease fears of default, strengthen foreign reserves and stabilize the rupee after two years of severe fiscal stress.

Inflation has eased from record highs, and the government is moving ahead with privatization, tax and energy reforms, and digitalization drives, all aimed at restoring credibility among investors and lenders.

The finance minister said the government’s disciplined fiscal management has restored confidence, improved sovereign spreads and contributed to the first current account surplus in 14 years.

“On monetary and exchange rate policy, Senator Aurangzeb reaffirmed the government’s commitment to maintaining a competitive, market-based exchange rate under the oversight of the State Bank of Pakistan, adding that productivity gains and structural reforms are as vital as external price competitiveness in sustaining export growth,” the finance ministry said.