Asif Zardari says will take forex reserves to $100bn

Ex-president Asif Ali Zardari has said that during his time in jail, he read several books on the economy and is confident of taking Pakistan's dwindling foreign exchange reserves to $100 billion.

Zardari, who served jail time in the 1990s and the 2000s, said as he studied books on the economy, his advice helped the then-Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government to boost the forex reserves to $24 billion.

"When I take charge of the economy, I will take the foreign exchange reserves to $100 billion," PPP Co-chairman Zardari told the party's ticket holders during a meeting at Bilawal House in Lahore.

The PPP elder mentioned that the army's budget isn't that big, however, it is targeted by unnecessary propaganda.

"There is a solution to do everything in politics. Those who don't understand politics, they don't even have solutions," Zardari, who served as the president from 2008 to 2013, said.

The PPP co-chairman, without elaborating, said "they" cannot hold elections within the next two months and polls will only take place when " I say so".

Pakistan currently faces a balance of payment crisis as the economic crisis takes a toll on the economy, with the forex reserves standing just above $4 billion, enough for less than a month's imports.

The South Asian nation has also so far failed to arrange external financing as the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) bailout programme remains stalled. Pakistan has no other option but to revive the programme and avoid a default.