Islamabad: Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said on Wednesday that imports have declined as a result of measures taken by the current government to correct the fundamentals of trade.
During a news presser in Islamabad, he said that the reduction in imports has helped create a balance between imports, exports and remittances.
Miftah highlighted that the trade deficit was $48 billion and the current account deficit was $17 billion during the last financial year, which the country could not afford.
He said that an agreement has been made with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which clearly states that the government will implement it.
He further said that World Bank and Asian Development Bank have also opened their financing to Pakistan after agreement with IMF.
Miftah said that moreover, some friendly countries have also assured assistance to Pakistan in bridging the financial gap.
Giving details of the aid to come, he stated that a friendly country had guaranteed $1.2 billion worth of oil on delayed payment.
He said that another country has shown interest in investing in the Pakistan stock market, while a third has shown interest in supplying gas worth $2.4 billion to Pakistan.
Additionally, another country will deposit $2 billion with the State Bank of Pakistan, and a fifth country is set to provide two billion Special Drawing Rights (SDRs).
He said that he wants to sell Balloki and Haveli Bahadur Shah power plants.
“The economy is on the right track, tax collection has improved. We will increase the tax-to-GDP ratio and reduce the budget deficit during the current financial year,” Miftah said that he is confident that inflation will continue. The problem will be solved. It will be dealt with in the next two to three months.
In response to a question regarding the record decrease in the value of the US dollar against the Pakistani rupee, the federal minister said that the value of the dollar has also increased compared to other currencies of the world.
“However, the recent depreciation of the rupee against the dollar was due to the political situation in the country,” the finance minister said, adding that the currency would normalize after the political situation improves in the next few days.
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