Pakistani Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb met his Chinese counterpart Lan Fo'an on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, DC, thanking Beijing for its "long-standing and unwavering" bilateral support and for the constructive role of China's IMF executive director in facilitating Pakistan's programme negotiations. Aurangzeb briefed Lan on Pakistan's performance under its Extended Fund Facility (EFF) — an IMF lending arrangement tied to structural economic reforms — noting that a staff-level agreement for the programme's third review is complete and awaiting executive board approval in early May. Pakistan's finance minister also updated Chinese officials on plans for the country's inaugural Panda bond issuance on China's domestic capital markets, and separately met Moody's representatives and global investors to outline a medium-term strategy for re-accessing international capital markets through instruments including a Eurobond and a dollar-settled rupee-linked bond.