Daily Times

Amid speculations that cash-strapped Pakistan is on the brink of a default, Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Ishaq Dar on Saturday once again rubbished rumours about the country “defaulting”.

Addressing a special session of the Senate’s Business Advisory Committee, Dar agreed that there are economic hardships but “we have taken efficient steps to overcome them”. He further reiterated his stance that he will pull the county out of the economic mess, a private TV channel reported. The finance czar emphasised that it is the collective responsibility and the whole nation has to contribute. “There is a need to avoid unnecessary expenditures,” Dar – who took the reins of Pakistan’s tumbling economy in September from his predecessor Miftah Ismail – said. The special session was convened by Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani at the Parliament House to review and discuss austerity measures in wake of the current financial situation of the country.

At the outset of the session, Sanjrani observed that hard decisions have to be taken to overcome challenges on the economic front, seeking recommendations from parliamentary heads of various political parties.

During the meeting, it was learnt that the Senate Secretariat was also working on a proposal to reduce the fuel limit for chairpersons of committees. Besides, no additional honorarium will be extended to employees of the senate during the current financial year, he said.

There was also a proposal to impose a ban on foreign visits for three months. Following Dar’s assurance regarding the efforts of the Ministry of Finance, Sanjrani expressed satisfaction with the steps taken by Dar and his team. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance on Saturday rejected the reports claiming that the federal government issued instructions to stop payment of pay and pensions, saying all such rumours are completely false. “This is completely false as no such instructions have been given by the Finance Division, which is the concerned federal ministry,” a press release issued by the finance division said.

The statement further said that AGPR has confirmed that pay and pension have already been processed and will be paid on time. “Further, other payments are being processed as per routine. There are certain rumours doing rounds that the government had instructed to stop such payments,” it added. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar also termed the reports as ‘fake news,’ saying that spreading the same caused harm to the national economic interests. “Kindly refrain from circulating such reports/news without verifying same from the concerned ministry,” he added.