Ishaq Dar rules out economic default

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Saturday said that there was no chance of Pakistan to default, adding that the country was moving in the right direction.

Addressing a function organised by the APTMA, Dar recalled that in 2013 also the world was saying that Pakistan would default.

"We worked hard and gave the budget in five days and saved the country from default," he said.

Slamming the PTI, the finance minister observed that the former ruling party’s tenure was the "darkest period" in the country, adding that “more experiments” on economy cannot be done.

"We have to improve macroeconomic indicators. Here the rich get their loans waived off while poor widows have their assets frozen for non-payment of a few thousand [rupees]," he said.

The finance minister blamed the opposition for blocking the avenues of investment in the country by telling "fake corruption stories" to the world.

"The opposition is making frivolous statements for politics, which is damaging the reputation of Pakistan immensely," he added.

Dar said that he spent five years in exile for “improving financial management” and was "treated like a terrorist".

"At the pace we were going before, we should have been part of the G20," he said. "Today our economy is ranked 46th [in the word]."

He slammed his predecessors for devaluing the rupee "without a second thought".

The finance minister called for curbing the smuggling of wheat from the country on war footings.

He reminded that Pakistan had completed its IMF programme from 2013 to 2016, noting that it happened “only once” in the history of the country”.