ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar on Wednesday claimed that he could prove that Pakistan won’t default on economic front.
“Whatever tough circumstances Pakistan is facing nowadays, let me assure you that Pakistan will never default,” he said while addressing a gathering of investors at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) through video link.
He said some elements negatively propagated regarding default and spread dissappointments among the people, adding he was not repsonsible for economic games played before him.
The minister the current government would complete the IMF programme following its past practice, adding efforts would be made to complete the fund s programme second time. “The government had to face devastating floods side by side the IMF programme.
In his address, the finance czar said he always believed that Pakistan has a prosperous future and “resilience” in its economy. However, he lamented that it was unfortunate that the country has been brought to a point where it should not be.
“It’s been three months since I took charge and we listen every day that there is going to be a default. How will there be a default? There is no chance that Pakistan will default,” the finance minister assured the investors.
He added that the country does not have the $24 billion reserves that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) left in 2016 but that was not his fault.
“The fault is in the system and we must ensure Pakistan goes forward,” said the finance minister.
Dar said that as soon as the country’s bond payments came close a “rhetoric” was started that Pakistan will not be able to fulfill its commitment. He added that despite the payment of the bonds the “pseudo-intellectuals” kept claiming.
The rumours were started by the same people who brought Pakistan to this point, he lamented.
“Be conscious, do not listen to them. Disseminate information that Pakistan will not default. I can prove to anyone that Pakistan will not default,” the finance minister maintained.
The finance czar said that for “petty politics and objectives” the country was being harmed.
To prove his point, the finance minister said that Pakistan’s debt-to-GDP ratio is currently 72% while it was 62% when he left the charge in his last stint.
He also gave examples of other countries to further prove his point by saying that the US’s debt-to-GDP ratio is 110%, Japan’s is 257% and UK’s after COVID is 101%.
“I can give you data of dozens of developed countries who are above 100% but I don’t see an alarm there all the time that we are under the debt trap or difficulty. Unfortunately, we are our own worst enemy,” said the finance minister.
Dar told the investors that they have a big role to play and urged them to allocate some time to Pakistan apart from their businesses. He added that everyone needs to work together.
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