Ishaq Dar says curbing inflation, improving reserves utmost priority

ISLAMABAD, Oct 19 (NNI): Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has said that the federal government’s foremost priority is to curb inflation and improve the foreign reserves as they did in their previous tenure.
The dollar rate is exaggerated, and the real value is under Rs200, Dar reiterated.
Talking to media persons in Islamabad, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said that when they took charge in 2013, foreign reserves were alarmingly low and inflation was rising. They immediately went into the IMF program and in three years, controlled conflation and took the growth rate to 6%.
Global organizations were predicting that Pakistan would be among the G-20 countries by 2030. However, the last four years and the ‘Panama Drama’ in their last tenure has damaged the economy badly, he added.
He added that a lot of hard work is needed to take the country out of this crisis, as the recent floods have added to the economic hardships of the country.
Dar said that in the 1998 crisis everyone speculated that Pakistan would default but they controlled it. There is no chance of the country defaulting, he assured.
Talking about the depreciation of the local currency value in the last few days, Ishaq Dar said that the US Dollar’s real value is under Rs200 and the rise in artificial.
The damage the PTI government caused to the economy in the last four years can not be healed in six months, the finance minister said. They would increase the foreign reserves, and curb inflation, Dar added.
Ishaq recommended the PTI Chief set aside selfish politics and think about the broad interest of the nation.
Talking about Pakistan’s exit from the FATF grey list, Dar said that they are expecting good news but can not announce anything before FATF does. The official news about Pakistan’s exit from the grey list would be announced by Friday, he added.
Earlier, talking to media in London, the Finance Minister said that the talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) went well.
“58 meetings were held with the IMF and the World Bank officials in four days. Meetings were held with top management of the IMF and the World Bank. The value of the dollar in the country increased by a few paisas, its real value is less. The value of the dollar will return to its original place soon,” he said.
The minister said that the confidence of the investors is restoring. “I have no plan to protest the rupee artificially. The government will have to reepay the the loan of US$22 billion by June next year. The new administration is capable of making better economic decisions,” he added. NNI