ISLAMABAD, Mar 09 (NNI): Finance Minister of Pakistan Ishaq Dar has said that the deal with the International Monetary Fund will be finalized in a few days.
The finance minister was addressing a seminar in Islamabad on Thursday. He said that the current government was striving hard to revive country’s economy. He was of the view that a ‘tattered economy’ was bequeathed to the allied PDM government.
“But soon we will control the economic problem,” the finance minister sounded optimistic, while admitting that the country was confronted with several challenges.
He accused the previous Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government of pursuing wrong policies which resulted in the destruction of economy. He maintained that country’s economic problems were increased after 2018. He was of the view that all economic gains gathered between 2013 and 2018 had been wasted.
“We want to lower the challenges for people in the next budget,’ he pronounced adding that the misdirected policies of the previous government escalated the budget deficit manifold.
“I hope that a deal with the IMF will be reached in a few days,” Dar exuded confidence. He deplored that the previous PTI government reversed the IMF programme. But he vowed that the current government would complete it at any cost.
Lashing out at former Prime Minister Imran Khan, the finance minister said that he harmed the development institutions and fueled inflation in the country. He said that the former premier increased foreign debt. He deplored that during last four years, the country’s debt has risen by four times and interest on these loans has multiplied.
He said that the budgeting process for the next fiscal has started. He hoped that the next budget would help steer the country out of economic bog. He said that his party’s government had succeeded in controlling all crises in the past. He lamented that investment was at its nadir in the country nowadays.
Dar observed that in recent years, the stock exchange has been declared frontier market from the emerging market. NNI
