Pakistan, IMF Begin $1.5 Billion Climate Financing Talks
Today, Pakistan will initiate crucial talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to arrange for $1 to $1.5 billion of climate financing. The talks will center on projects enabling Pakistan to tackle climate change and mitigate its risks from climate-related hazards.
The IMF will closely interact with Pakistan’s main government ministries, such as finance, climate change, water resources, petroleum, and the Federal Board of Revenue. They will also engage with disaster management groups and provincial governments.
The negotiations will last three weeks, and the IMF delegation is scheduled to visit Pakistan in early to mid-March for an assessment of Pakistan’s $7 billion bailout program. As part of this, Pakistan will add climate-oriented projects to its next development plan, with emphasis on infrastructure, foreign-funded projects, and projects in Pakistan’s most backward regions.
The IMF is confident that these projects would contribute to Pakistan’s climate resilience, which would help speed up its economic recovery. Nevertheless, the IMF also cautioned that climate project borrowing would raise Pakistan’s debt. Hence, it underscored the necessity of fiscal reforms and stronger financial management to keep the country economically stable.
