‘Those who used to say Pakistan will default faced disappointment,’: Dar vows to take country out of economic quagmire

Islamabad:  Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said that all those who used to say that Pakistan would default met with disappointment, hoping that the country would soon be out of economic quagmire.

Ishaq Dar said that the government with Prime Minister Shehbaz at the top was trying its best to steer the country out of crises.

“We came out of the such tough economic situation back in 1999 and we will be out soon from the present situation,’ said the finance minister while talking to the media  at the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Tuesday.

Ishaq Dar also said that they would try their best to burden the nation as less as possible in the budget.

In his reflection, the official recalled the performance of the previous government led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) during its previous term when Pakistan was making strides as an economic powerhouse.

Taking a moment to contemplate, the minister expressed that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had entered into an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the fiscal year 2019-20 but later withdrew, resulting in damage to the reputation of the nation.

Furthermore, he remarked that the current government made decisions without considering their political repercussions.

The minister highlighted that the IMF team arrived three months behind schedule for the ninth review in Pakistan, but eventually, the review was completed on a technical level.

Regarding taxation, he mentioned that the initial tax proposal presented by the global lender amounted to Rs800 billion. However, through negotiations, the government managed to reduce it to Rs170 billion.

The minister emphasized that the government upheld its commitments to the nation, with the only pending issue being the gap in external funding. In this context, he drew a comparison to the situation following Pakistan's nuclear tests in 1998, asserting that they successfully addressed it.