At the First Biennial Summit for a Sustainable, Inclusive and Resilient Global Economy in New York on 24 September 2025, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister thanked UN Secretary-General António Guterres for convening the meeting and urged urgent economic reform.
He warned that the international economic order has long perpetuated asymmetries and vulnerabilities: the SDG financing gap is widening, over 100 developing countries are mired in debt, and the climate crisis is accelerating. Reform is no longer optional but an imperative for equitable global recovery.
Pakistan welcomed the commitments made under the Compromiso de Sevilla but stressed that promises must be transformed into action. On debt, initiatives such as the Borrowers’ Forum, a global debt data registry and the UN-led intergovernmental process are useful steps, yet the ultimate objective must be a multilateral sovereign debt mechanism to provide predictable relief for vulnerable countries.
The minister called for a rebalancing of international financial governance so that the IMF and World Bank reflect contemporary global realities and afford developing countries a fair voice, equitable vote and just share in decision-making. Such changes are central to the broader economic reform agenda Pakistan supports.
He urged a scale up of development finance, full delivery on ODA commitments, expanded concessional flows and re-channeling of unused SDRs to those most in need. Pakistan also pressed the summit to deliver on climate finance, calling for at least $300 billion annually, predictable and grant-based. Pakistan knows this urgency firsthand: three years after the 2022 floods that caused over $30 billion in damages, the country is again facing severe flooding. Pakistan contributes less than one percent to global emissions yet pays a disproportionate price.
The minister further said WTO reform must restore development to the heart of the trading system and urged progress toward a UN-led global taxation framework to curb illicit financial flows, profit shifting and tax evasion. These measures, he argued, are essential parts of economic reform that protect the right to development for the Global South.
Despite successive global shocks, Pakistan is pursuing an economic revival through tough macroeconomic reforms that have produced a primary budget surplus, curtailed inflation, lowered the debt-to-GDP ratio and mobilised domestic resources. He underlined that no country can confront these crises alone and called for collective solutions that ensure survival and opportunity for all.
I thank you.
