ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Sunday assumed the chairmanship of the Intergovernmental Group of Twenty-Four (G-24), pledging to strengthen the collective voice of developing economies and work for a more responsive, equitable and development-focused international financial system.
Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb termed the chairmanship a profound responsibility and called for renewed international cooperation, stronger multilateral institutions and reinforced global commitments to tackle climate shocks, development financing gaps and global economic fragmentation.
“The future of developing economies is not peripheral to the future of the global economy. It is central to it,” the finance minister said, pointing to the potential of emerging and developing nations as engines of investment, innovation, entrepreneurship and global growth.
Outlining Pakistan’s agenda as G-24 chair, Senator Aurangzeb identified three strategic priorities.
He said the first priority was to place development at the heart of global economic policymaking. Macroeconomic stability, he noted, should serve as a base for investment, productivity, employment and shared prosperity, enabling developing and low-income economies to move beyond crisis management towards sustainable growth.
The second priority, he said, was to strengthen multilateral frameworks for the collective benefit of members through institutions that are more inclusive and representative. Pakistan, he added, would advocate fair and equitable governance, meaningful participation in decision-making and greater responsiveness of the Bretton Woods institutions to the changing needs and realities of their members.
The third priority is to advance a development-oriented international financial architecture. According to the finance minister, the focus would include affordable and timely development financing, sustainable debt solutions, stronger global financial safety nets, climate resilience and increased mobilisation of public and private capital.
“Our task is to ensure that the immense potential of developing economies is not constrained by an international financial architecture that has yet to fully adapt to a changing world,” Senator Aurangzeb said.
Referring to Pakistan’s own experience of economic stabilisation, reform and resilience, the finance minister underlined the need to align financial stability with long-term development goals. He also stressed that reforming economies must have the required financing and policy space to pursue sustainable growth.
Senator Aurangzeb reaffirmed that Pakistan’s chairmanship would be guided by the G-24’s longstanding principles of consultation, consensus and collective advocacy. He said Pakistan would work closely with members across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as with the IMF, the World Bank and other international partners, to turn shared priorities into practical outcomes.
The finance minister also acknowledged Nigeria’s leadership as the outgoing chair and expressed Pakistan’s commitment to building on the group’s progress.
He said the effectiveness of collective leadership must be assessed through tangible development results.
“The true measure of our collective leadership will not simply be the strength of our voice, but the difference that voice makes,” he said.
Senator Aurangzeb reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to advancing the G-24 mission “from collective voice to collective influence, and from collective influence to meaningful progress.”
