Current govt headed by Shehbaz Sharif saved country from bankruptcy: Miftah Ismail

ISLAMABAD, July 5 (SABAH): Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Dr. Miftah Ismail Ahmed has said that incompetence of former prime minister Imran Khan, creating intentional economic hurdles by laying explosive mines in the way of coming government to fail it and challenging environment at the international level are the causes of current situation of the country.

He said this during an interview with a private TV channel. The former prime minister intentionally laid explosive mines for creating economic hurdles, Miftah Ismail said, adding the country is facing a challenging environment at the international level which is why the incumbent government is bound to take tough decisions.                        

History will witness that current government headed by Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has saved the country from bankruptcy, he said and added he has been stressing since day one on taking tough decisions for the sake of staying the country away from bankruptcy.

With the Blessings of Allah Almighty, the current regime will overcome the prevailing issues within next few months, he said. The government will reach an agreement during this ongoing week or during the next week with IMF, he said, adding that three years International Monetary Fund program has been extended to four years and amount of money has been increased from six billion dollars.

He said one of the reasons among the many behind current issues faced with the country is delayed decisions of PTI government, adding that the previous government stayed away from making agreements regarding Liquefied Natural Gas when it was available at cheaper price. It also didn’t reach agreements in connection with oil and charcoal.

Moreover, the previous government installed explosive mines in the way of economy of the country as by giving tremendous subsidy on diesel which took the government near bankruptcy. Rs 40 billion are required to run government per month while Imran Khan was giving a subsidy of Rs 120 billion per month on oil prices that could take the country to the state of bankruptcy.

Dr. Miftah Ismail said that there is a challenging environment at the international level, adding whilst the last days of previous government, oil was available at 90 to 95 dollar per barrel which now has come down to $114 per barrel from 124 dollars.

Pakistani people consider the current government for being responsible of increasing petrol prices, he said, adding that its price has been increased less than was required for the sake of keeping the people away from further inflation. On a question in connection with return of ex-finance minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar back to Pakistan, he replied, “Either Ishaq Dar returns back to country or not—-I don’t know. Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif have given me the current portfolio of finance minister. It is authority of the PM Shehbaz Sharif to continue or discontinue my services as finance minister. However, no clue has been given to me in this regard.”