Debt burden: Govt to cut public debt by 2% annually

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar has said that Medium Term Framework announced in the budget envisages a reduction in overall public debt by 2% every year. Public debt is presently 63% of the GDP, much higher than the 60% permissible under the Fiscal Debt and Responsibility law. Talking to Australian High Commissioner Peter Heyward who called on him here Wednesday, Dar said that he was optimistic to achieve the ambitious revenue target of Rs2.475 trillion set in the budget. “I am optimistic that macro-economic challenges presently facing the country are manageable” he added. Expanding on the International Monetary Fund programme, Senator Ishaq Dar said that the terms of the agreement are within the broad parameters of PML-N manifesto. He said that the loan from IMF would not increase Pakistan’s external debt as the new loan would be utilised to return the previous loan.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 18^th, 2013.

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