‘Dar misled nation about Pakistan’s impending default’

F.P. Report
PESHAWAR: Provincial Minister for Health and Finance Taimur Saleem Jhagra, along with Minister for Higher Education Kamran Bangash, while addressing the press conference in response to the video statement of Federal Finance, said that Ishaq Dar has said in his video statement that there no or minimal risk of Pakistan defaulting. It is good that someone in the imported government stated something about the country’s economy. As a Pakistani, no one would want our country to default. We are the citizens of this country, and its development and prosperity are essential for all of us.
Addressing the press conference, he said that Moody’s and Fitch’s ratings are reliable as independent institutions. The value of our international bonds is falling day by day. Therefore, the international market does not trust our economy at present. Before this, they said there was a default risk, and we were saving. The IMF agreement was also made in the same context to save the country from defaulting. In this context, the storm of inflation hit the people. After 1971, the country is going through a period of historical inflation.
The Finance Minister said that the IMF was not confident in the Pakistani economy, so they hesitated in the second installment. The dollar may be controlled in the interbank market, but the dollar is still worth 240 in the open market. Due to this rate difference, international remittances are decreasing, and overseas Pakistanis send money from the open market instead of banks. Instead of filing false cases against Imran Khan, the government should focus on the economy. The imported government should take serious steps to restore trust in the international market to stabilize the country’s economy. He added that the government is not taking more steps to stabilize the economy because it will have to bear the brunt of it in the elections.
While criticizing the federal government’s economic policies, Taimur Jhagra said that the imported gangs took over the government, and now they can no longer handle the country’s economy. Until a day before coming into government, this imported government was marching on inflation. After coming to the government, they took a U-turn on their inflation statements. It is the right of the people to take them into confidence on economic issues. We take the media and people into confidence on the economic issues of Pakhtunkhwa.
Referring to the article of the former finance minister published in a well-known newspaper, the provincial minister said that Miftah Ismail had mentioned the government’s failures in his article. All the country’s units are bearing the brunt of the economic failures of the imported government. Gallup survey has unearthed the failure of the Pakistani economy. According to the survey, 88 percent of businessmen believe that the country’s economy is not going in the right direction. The federal government is delaying the transfer of funds to the provinces.
Referring to the media statements and announcements of the Prime Minister, Taimur Saleem Jhagra said that Shahbaz Sharif did not give a single penny to his province Punjab for the flood, let alone Pakhtunkhwa. The Prime Minister refused to transfer the ten billion rupees he announced for floods in Pakhtunkhwa. We don’t need Shehbaz Sharif’s clothes; we need his economic policy and decision-making power. During his government, he announced a 100 billion subsidy for electricity in Punjab. After losing the government in Punjab, the province’s funds were even stopped.
Talking about the ambiguous economic policies, Taimur Saleem Jhagra said that the track record of seven months is saddening and that the direction of the country’s economy should be corrected. If the imported government does not talk about the economy, then we will. We Cannot lie to the public and media about the economy.
In response to a journalist’s question that “why the provincial government does not sit down with the federal government and solve the problems,” the Finance Minister took the stand that Miftah Ismail was asked to sit down and Ishaq Dar was also asked to sit with us. Ishaq Dar’s office was also approached several times. The federal government has to solve the economic problems together with the provinces. Homework has started to go to court on the funds of tribal districts. It is our right to go to court for the province’s rights, but it is not our priority. We want to solve everything by sitting together and understanding. The Federation does not give us our due funds and forces us to borrow from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) with interest.
Addressing the Federal Finance Minister, he said Dar Sahib, your government, and its allies are behind the country’s bad economy and sinking. Political stability is essential for stability in the economy. Political stability will come from new elections, so the government has a mandate of five years.