BANGKOK: Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb, met with a Lazard delegation on the sidelines of the World Bank Group–IMF Annual Meetings 2026 in Bangkok, Thailand, to discuss mining investment, financing diversification and Pakistan’s sovereign credit outlook.
The finance minister welcomed proposals for blended finance, sustainability-linked loans, guaranteed Sukuk and debt swaps to broaden funding sources and improve financing terms. He highlighted Pakistan’s restored international capital market access and plans for further issuances, including Panda bonds.
He emphasized cost discipline, alignment with the medium-term financing strategy, and advance preparation to benefit from favourable market conditions. Both sides discussed sovereign rating advisory support, policy predictability and stronger economic resilience to support progress towards the BB rating category.
It was agreed that follow-up would be coordinated through the Debt Management Office and the State Bank of Pakistan, with Lazard proposing a short note outlining its recommendations.
Meeting with Alvarez & Marsal
The finance minister also met with Alvarez & Marsal to discuss long-term financing through World Bank Group guarantees.
The Finance Minister welcomed the proposal of combining a World Bank policy-based guarantee with Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) coverage to attract financing at competitive rates, with a potential financing target of approximately US$1.5 billion, subject to the guarantee envelope and transaction structure.
Discussions covered leveraging World Bank resources, combining budget support with guarantees and broadening investor participation. The Finance Minister emphasized using an existing Development Policy Operation (DPO) to avoid delays associated with negotiating a new framework.
He supported further exploration of the proposal through the Finance Division, Economic Affairs Division and World Bank Group. The meeting also touched on ongoing advisory work on the privatization of DISCOs.