Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Saturday \u201creassured\u201d the nation that Pakistan will not default and promised that the government had planned reforms for the country\u2019s \u201clong-term betterment\u201d.<\/p>\n
Speaking to a delegation of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Islamabad, Dar said: \u201cOur main objective today is just to assure you that as your economic team, we are putting in all the efforts to get out of this [crisis].\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGod-willing, we will be coming up with new ideas in the weeks to come. There will be the budget and some work after that as well for Pakistan\u2019s long-term betterment. We will bring an agricultural revolution in Pakistan, [and] a sovereign wealth fund will be created,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The minister\u2019s assurances come as the country still awaits the much-delayed signing of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff-level agreement, which would unlock $1.1 billion in financing for the cash-strapped nation as part of its $7bn package.<\/p>\n
Pakistan on Thursday recorded its highest-ever annual inflation of 37.97 year-on-year with the finance ministry terming flood damages, disruptions in supply chains, devaluation brought by the macroeconomic imbalances, and political uncertainty as the potential reasons for the price hike.<\/p>\n
In another assault, the Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) last night asked the government to increase gas tariff by 45 per cent to 50pc for all consumer groups across the country to meet revenue requirement of two gas utilities \u2014 Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) \u2014 during the fiscal year 2023-24.<\/p>\n
At the outset of his address, Dar admitted that the tough economic decisions taken by the government had put an \u201cundoubtedly great burden on the business community and the common man\u201d.<\/p>\n
At one point, he stated that the government\u2019s top priority was to ensure that \u201cthere is not a single day\u2019s delay in Pakistan\u2019s sovereign commitments\u201d. Dar asserted that there had been no such delay thus far.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome people like to give dates that [Pakistan] will default on so and so date \u2014 they should be ashamed. They should be well-wishers [of Pakistan] and be loyal to their soil.<\/p>\n
\u201cPakistan is a sovereign country. Pakistan has trillions of dollars of assets. If we have external debts of 100 billion, we also have assets,\u201d he maintained.<\/p>\n
Dar claimed that one asset relating to gas infrastructure was equivalent to 50pc of Pakistan\u2019s debt.<\/p>\n
Recounting the economic difficulties the country faced in 2014, the minister said that one year was difficult but then \u201ceverything was normal once things had settled down\u201d.<\/p>\n
The PML-N leader went on to claim that Pakistan had become the \u201cbest economy in South Asia\u201d and the policy rate was 6.5pc when the PTI government took over.<\/p>\n
According to Dar, there were \u201conly two options\u201d available with the parties currently in power when they took over in 2022 \u2014 either to \u201clet the previous government stay [in power] and wait for complete destruction to take place, god forbid or to take a bold decision\u201d.<\/p>\n
Admitting that the government knew it would not be easy to deal with the economic crises, the minister said they took the difficult decision of \u201ctaking responsibility [\u2026] no matter the loss to the political capital\u201d.<\/p>\n
He then asserted that the \u201cmost difficult reforms have taken place\u201d and expressed hope that there would be no issues in multilateral dealings as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Saturday \u201creassured\u201d the nation that Pakistan will not default and promised that the government had planned reforms for the country\u2019s \u201clong-term betterment\u201d. Speaking to a delegation of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Islamabad, Dar said: \u201cOur main objective today is just to assure you that as your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":314115,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-335198","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-national"},"yoast_head":"\n