Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has downplayed the growing concerns that the country was facing the risk of defaulting on its international debt obligations, stating that the cash-strap country would pay the maturing debt on time and withstand all pressures.
Addressing a seminar of the Pakistan Business Forum at Karachi Stock Exchange via a video link, he said, “Pakistan will not default, there is no chance of Pakistan defaulting, we will stay the tide, Pakistan will continue to develop and Pakistan will definitely go ahead.”
Anti-Pakistan propaganda about default
He said naysayers should stop the anti-Pakistan propaganda about the so-called risk of default.
Dar said he has had a strong body with Pakistan Stock Exchange for several years. “The business community of Pakistan is standing behind the government for the country’s development. We look forward to further improvement and we need to focus on the corporate sector”.
Attention to SECP
Dar said that no attention was paid to SECP during the PTI government. He said that when he took charge of Pakistan’s Finance Ministry, he diverted his focus to the SECP and the Pakistan Stock Exchange.
The finance minister said “for the last several months, we have been hearing every day that Pakistan will default, this is not the Pakistan of the past, why will it default, people should not pay attention to such unfounded rumours. People are scared and they buy gold and dollars but we have opened imports so that people will bring out their dollars and will take Pakistan out of the predicament.
The finance minister said that Pakistan has a bright future and it will definitely go forward. “We have to take Pakistan out of the vortex, we should learn from the past mistakes, the economy should not be politicized, lets cooperate to take the country out of the current vortex.
Dar said said that he was trying to improve the country’s economy. “During the PTI era, the government did not pay any attention to SECP. We have brought Pakistan to where it wanted to be. We will carry on, the business class is standing with the government, but some people are harming the country for politics.
He said that though Pakistan was facing economic hardships, Pakistan will not default and the government is managing everything.
He said that “for petty things, we are downgrading the country. Our debt to GDP is around 72% while in other countries, the debt to GDP has been around more than 100 per cent,” he said.
Dara said “when payment of bonds was due, we heard we will default but we made the bond payment on time”.
The finance minister said that essential imports have been prioritised and raw materials for the export industry have been re-prioritised.
Smuggling of dollars
Dar confessed that the smuggling of dollars to Afghanistan was causing concern, leading to the weakening of the rupee.
“The import of wheat and subsidies were taking a toll on the resources and the smuggling of fertilizer was also putting a strain on the economy. The government has taken measures to curb smuggling,” he said that adding that the country was facing hardship due to import-led inflation.
Dar said that Pakistan will complete the IMF programme.
“There has immense potential in REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust), India entered REIT market after Pakistan. Pakistan’s capitalization of REIT is $134 million while India REIT now stands at $8 billion,” he said adding that Pakistan will not go to the Paris club to reschedule the debt.
