Reza Baqir sacrificed higher salary to serve country: Qureshi

Minister says macroeconomic instability compelled govt to approach IMF

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Tuesday defended the appointment of Reza Baqir as the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) governor, maintaining that the expatriate had returned with the sole purpose of steering the country out of its economic crisis.

"Reza Baqir has been appointed on merit. He has taken up the new job at a lower salary package than the one he had at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) just to serve the country," he said while speaking in the Senate.

The minister said there was macroeconomic instability in the country when the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had come to power and it was compelled to approach the IMF for financial help.



"Foreign exchange reserves were at their lowest, fiscal deficit was 6.6% of the GDP, trade deficit stood at $19 billion and there was Rs1.3 trillion circular debt left behind by the previous government," the minister said while speaking in the Senate.

"Imagine, a government takes office and it is told that the foreign exchange reserves are only enough to last six weeks because of the actions of the previous rulers. You're told that trade deficit is the largest ever in the country's history. It rings alarm bells," he added.

"Who is responsible for the decline of public institutions? Did the growth and foreign direct investment decline in only the last eight months?"

Qureshi said the government tried to avoid approaching the IMF by seeking the assistance of friendly countries.

"I especially want to thank China, Saudi Arabia and the UAE for their help. However, despite their support, it wasn't enough to overcome the deficit," he maintained.

The foreign minister further said every public department was undergoing a crisis. "The Railways, the Steel Mills, the PIA, they are all in debt and that is haemorrhaging the government."

Qureshi observed that the growth of sectors is becoming stagnant. "The growth trajectory is downwards in the agricultural sector."

The minister maintained there was no issue with China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) or the country's nuclear programme.
He also assured senators that there were no plans to introduce the one-unit or a presidential form of system in the country. "The 18th amendment will not be rolled back," he added.

The minister also pointed the previous government's failure in awarding the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award.

"Former finance minister Asad Umar had repeatedly requested the provinces to nominate ex-officio members of the commission but the provincial governments kept on postponing the matter," he said, holding the Sindh government primarily responsible for the delay.

"Distribution of resources is our constitutional responsibility and we will try to do it in our five years," the minister said. "The PTI government will introduce a better NFC Award."

Earlier, Senator Sassui Palijo, speaking on her adjournment motion, said no NFC Award had been awarded to the provinces after 2010 because of which the economic woes of Sindh had doubled.

She demanded that the NFC Award should be granted immediately. She also said it was unreasonable that the erstwhile tribal areas, after their merger with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, should be given an NFC Award share from those of other provinces.

Railways land

Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed informed the Senate that over 50 acres of occupied Railways land had been retrieved in Peshawar division during the last three months.

"A special campaign for the removal of encroachments was launched and negotiations are also under way with government departments for the recovery of Railways land," he added.

The minister said around 200 acres of Railways land were still under illegal possession of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab governments.

He added that stay orders from courts were a major hurdle in the retrieval of occupied land.

"Presently, around 185 land cases are under trial in different courts."
To another question, Rashid said on an average 12 freight trains per day were travelling from the Karachi port to different destinations.

"Besides, at any given time there are about 60 freight trains on track."
He said freight operations generated Rs12.27 billion in the financial year 2016-2017.