ISLAMABAD - Asian Development Bank (ADB) Executive Director Sami Saeed on Tuesday called on Finance Minister Ishaq Dar at the Ministry of Finance and discussed matters related to ADB’s various projects and programmes in Pakistan.

The minister was informed that due to the improved credit ratings of Pakistan and the economic reforms carried out by the government during the last four years, the Asian Development Bank had increased their country exposure limit for private sector operations in Pakistan from $700 million to $1.7 billion. This would make available additional resources to the private sector in Pakistan, he added. The ADB executive director said that the disbursement of the contracted sovereign credits was currently at a historical level.

Dar appreciated the ADB’s continued support for development programmes in Pakistan. He recalled his recent meeting with the ADB President Takaheki Nakao in Urumqi, China and asked Sami to follow up with the ADB management to take the matters further in the light of the discussions held during the meeting.

Dar reviews progress on

different draft laws

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday chaired a meeting to review progress on different draft laws initiated by the Ministry of Finance for enactment.

The acting finance secretary briefed the meeting that presently there were 10 bills relating to different laws under process at different stages. These included Corporate Rehabilitation Bill 2017, Amendment in Bank's (Nationalisation) Act 1974, Loans for Agricultural, Commercial & Industrial Purposes (Amendment) Bill 2017, SBP-BSC Amendment Bill, 2017, The Auditor General’s Functions, Power & Terms and Conditions of Service (Amendment Bill), 2017 etc. He informed that the finance ministry officials were assisting the National Assembly and Senate Secretariats in the processing of these legislative proposals.

The acting finance secretary also apprised the minister regarding formulation/amendments in different rules to make them compatible with present day requirements. These included Loans for Agriculture, Commercial & Industrial Purposes Rules, 1973, Draft Investor Education & Awareness Fund Rules, 2017 and Rules under the Financial Institutions (secured transaction) Act, 2016. He said that substantial progress had been made in the recent weeks and the work in this regard would be completed soon.

Dar stated that the legislative proposals were part of the reform agenda of the government and their timely completion must be ensured. He directed the officials to keep close liaison with the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Secretariats of National Assembly and the Senate in this regard. Senior officials of the finance ministry attended the meeting.