Pakistani Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on Friday said the government would continue to curb imports for the next three months, because he warned “bad days” in front of the country that lack money.
Overcoming the ceremony on the Pakistani Stock Exchange here, the Minister said that the government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif suffered because of the economic policy taken by the Pakistan Tehreek-E-E-Insaf regime led by Prime Minister Imran Khan who was overthrown.
“As long as the previous Pakistani Muslim League government (PML-N), the state budget deficit was USD 1,600 billion, and in the last four years under the Pakistan E-E-Insaf Tehreek regime, that number bubbled to USD 3,500,” Geo TV quoted Ismail said .
“There is no country that can grow and be stable with an account deficit running like this,” he said.
“When you increase the budget deficit and also increase loans by 80 percent, it has a bad impact on the economy,” he explained.
“I will not allow imports to increase for three months and, meanwhile, we will make a policy. I understand that growth will be reduced for a while but I have no other choice,” the Dawn newspaper quoted the Minister of Finance as said.
The Pakistani import bill for the previous fiscal year reached USD 80 billion, while exports amounting to USD 31 billion.
He noted that the current government must save the country from the possibility of default and must take short-term and short-term steps. “Maybe it’s not wise in the long run,” he complained.
“We are on the right track, but obviously we might see bad days. If we control our imports for three months, we can increase our exports through various ways,” he said.
Speaking of the exchange rate, Ismail noted that the dollar outflow had exceeded the entry, which was why Rupee had fallen sharply against Greenback over the past month.
Rupee Pakistan appreciated 2.15 against the US dollar for the sixth successive session during intra-day trade in the interbank market, to touch 224 of Greenback on Friday.
Since the dismissal of Khan in April, the Pakistani currency has plummeted to the lowest level of 240, amid the uncertainty about IMF assistance.
Last week, the rating agent based in New York S&P Global revised Pakistan’s long -term ranking from ‘stable’ to ‘negative’ because of the spiral inflation and more stringent global financial conditions.
Pakistan reached the staff level agreement with the IMF last month followed by months of tightening belts that were very unpopular by the government, which took over power in April and had effectively eliminated fuel subsidies and power and introduced new steps to expand the tax base .
The new government has cut subsidized rafts to meet the demands of global financial institutions but are at risk of voters who have struggled under the burden of two -digit inflation.
Pakistan hopes for the rise of a fast bailout, but the IMF has not released installments so far.
The IMF population representative for Pakistan Esther Perez Ruiz, followed the staff level agreement, earlier this week said the country had completed the final prerequisite for increasing petroleum development levies for the seventh and eighth combined.
The USD 6 billion bailout package was signed by former Prime Minister Imran Khan in 2019, but repeatedly stopped when his government denied the subsidy agreement and failed to increase tax collection significantly.
Pakistan really needs an IMF loan.
In July, the fund said it would increase the value of the bailout from USD 6 billion to USD 7 billion if approved by the executive council, usually considered a formality.
Sharif has repeatedly blamed the former Prime Minister’s government, accusing that Khan – a former cricket star who became an Islamic politician – deliberately violated the condition of the IMF to remain popular among followers at home.