WEB DESK
Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday stated that the former government, in its nearly four years in power, had completely neglected the stock market and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP).
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Speaking at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ceremony, Ishaq Dar stated that the stock market is crucial to the development of the nation’s economy. He stressed that he had been associated with PSX for more than 40 years and during that period, the stock exchange was the largest stock market in South Asia.
Blaming the opposition, Dar said that the SECP was completely neglected during their era. However, the business community is working alongside the government to advance the nation. The finance minister continued by saying that the current government has everything planned out and in order, therefore Pakistan won’t go into default. Brushing off claims, Dar said that he is not accountable for the current economic crisis of the country, which happened due to wrong policies made before him.
Dar explained that Pakistan’s total debt is 72% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) while many countries have debts higher than their GDP but still they did not default. The country should be helped to escape the vortex instead of spreading propaganda and bringing in politics, the finance minister emphasized.
In an effort to balance the economy, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the federal government has relaxed import restrictions for essential sectors. Discussing the exchange market volatility, Dar told that the intelligence agencies are playing an important role in stopping US dollars from being smuggled.
Apart from that, heavy foreign exchange was also being spent on the imports of wheat and fertilizer, however, law enforcement agencies have been ordered to stop the smuggling of all three of them, Dar said at the conference.
The finance minister acknowledged that the interest rate had gone up, but he attributed the increase to the depreciation in the value of the Pakistani rupee.
However, the federal finance minister reassured that he was looking into the issue of higher interest rates.
He went on to project that the capital market of the country has a lot of potential, which is why the main focus should be to meet the credit requirements through local sources rather than borrowing from multilateral institutions.
With the government implementing economic reforms to get the economy back on its feet, the finance minister said that the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project is progressing rapidly and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program will also be completed.
However, in the next 6–7 years, Pakistan will need around Rs35 billion because petroleum products are costing $25 to $30 billion annually
