'Maybe it was unwise in the long-term,' he noted.

He noted that the government, after being formed, had to save the country from default, therefore, it took some immediate and short-term measures. 'When you raise the budget deficit and also increase the loans by 80%, it has an adverse impact on the economy,' the finance minister said, lamenting that the present government was 'suffering' due to PTI's economic policies. Moving on, the finance minister said that the budget deficit during PML-N's previous government was $1,600 billion, and the PTI, in the last four years, raised it $3,500 billion. The new government has slashed a raft of subsidies to meet the demands of global financial institutions but risks the wrath of an electorate already struggling under the weight of double-digit inflation.įollowing the staff-level agreement and the tough decisions, IMF's Resident Representative for Pakistan Esther Perez Ruiz said earlier this week that the country has completed the last precondition - increasing the PDL (petroleum development levy) - for the combined seventh and eighth reviews.Īn original $6 billion bailout package was signed by former prime minister Imran Khan in 2019, but repeatedly stalled when his government reneged on subsidy agreements and failed to significantly improve tax collection. Pakistan reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF last month followed by months of deeply unpopular belt-tightening by the government, which took power in April and has effectively eliminated fuel and power subsidies and introduced new measures to broaden the tax base.

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The incumbent government faced an uphill task of ending oil and power subsidies when it came to power - and after much deliberation, it did put an end to them as the country needed the support of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). However, we are on the right track and if we control our imports for three months, we can boost our exports through various means.' In his address to an event at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) in the metropolis, the finance minister said: 'We are on the right track, but obviously we might see bad days. KARACHI: Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said Friday that Pakistan was heading in the right direction, but he did not rule out the possibility of the country facing bad days ahead.

He stresses boosting forex reserves for economic stability.

Finance minister says if imports controled, exports can increase.

Miftah Ismail hopes for rupee appreciation with import curbs.

The State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) foreign exchange reserves, which were valued at $11.425 billion at the end of March, gradually decreased to $8.575 billion as of July 22.Finance Minister Miftah Ismail addresses during an event at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) in Karachi, on August 5, 2022. This increases the rupee’s overall loss since Imran Khan’s administration was toppled on April 7 to 27.2 percent. The rupee lost 4.8% more of its value against the US dollar in the week ended July 29. Last week, Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa telephoned US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman to seek Washington’s support for the package. But the release of a $1.7 billion (seventh and eighth) tranche has been on hold since earlier this year, when the IMF expressed concern about Pakistan’s compliance with the deal. Pakistan and the IMF signed the $6bn bailout accord - Extended Fund Facility (EFF) - in 2019. Market sentiment has also strengthened as a result of reports in some newspapers that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will likely begin the process of distributing the seventh and eighth tranches of a $6 billion loan package for Pakistan later this week. “Fundamentals are in my favour, but speculation and sentiments also play a role,” he said.

Ismail admitted that the dollar had gotten out of hand after the Punjab by-elections on July 17, but he insisted that he still thought the rupee was worth far more than where it was at the moment.

He said the rupee value was improving after a reduction in our import bill which was a welcoming sign. Finance Minister Miftah Ismail earlier in his press conference sounded hopeful believing that pressure on the rupee would be dissipated within two weeks and things would become easy.

Pakistan rupee