LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) leader and former federal finance minister Miftah Ismail on Sunday sounded the alarm, saying that Pakistan is on the verge of default.
Taking to Twitter, Miftah stated that “I don’t know what the optimal rate of the dollar is, only the market can determine that. Last year imports were $80bn & exports $31bn. The No.1 priority of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar shouldn’t be to make imports cheaper & export harder, which is what an appreciated rupee does.”
I don’t know what’s the optimal rate of the dollar; only the market can determine that. Last year imports were $80bn & exports $31bn. The No.1 priority of the FM shouldn’t be to make imports cheaper & export harder, which is what an appreciated rupee does https://t.co/BEPUpDJzG2
— Miftah Ismail (@MiftahIsmail) November 27, 2022
The former financial czar in his article stated that even after paying the December Sukuk bonds, the risk of bankruptcy does not lessen. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government did not follow the agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is why the risk of default increased.
Miftah also said that “we cannot take any risks but at the same time we need to make effective strategies for the creditors. National interest should be preferred over political differences. If the government does not take the necessary steps, it will not be in a position to criticize PTI. A major decline of 38% was observed in exports from 2013 to 2018, which was a huge deficit for the current account. Because PTI did not follow IMF’s agreement, the economy faced a massive downfall, we had to take challenging steps and sign a new agreement with them.”
