Mr Dar has been facing many criticisms from opposition parties and on social media
KARACHI: Reportedly, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank declared Ishaq Dar of Pakistan the Finance Minister of the year 2016 for South Asia as revealed a few days ago by the Ministry of Finance.
There has been plenty of hype created as this is an extraordinary achievement by the Ministry of Finance but the truth is, the Emerging Market publication has no links to the World bank or the IMF. It is a private publication and it is routine to choose a banker or a finance minister for the award. It is the same publication that gave awards and recognition to former Pakistani personalities, such as finance minister Shaukat Aziz.
The economy now is more stable than it was in 2013 under his ministry and he has done a lot for the economy. GDP growth reached an all-time high last year and the increase in tax revenue also helped him to achieve this mark with a record increase of 16.9 per cent per year. Apart from that, the debt ratio has also improved vigorously in these three years.
Since the announcement of the award, Mr Dar has been facing many criticisms from opposition parties and on social media. Some say the IMF returned a favour to Ishaq Dar, who accepted high interest loans from the IMF. While there is no value of the award, we should recognise Pakistan’s economy has experienced a boost. Nonetheless, we are still in heavy foreign debt and the finance minister should take measures to lower it if he really wants to set an example or do something for Pakistan.
Rida Abrar
Published in The Express Tribune, October 14th, 2016.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
