Pressure on PKR to ‘vanish’ in next two weeks: Miftah Ismail

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Miftah Ismail Tuesday said that the pressure on the Pakistani rupee will “vanish” in a week or two.

In an interview with Tabadlab, an advisory services firm, Miftah Ismail expressed hope that the exchange rate will stabilize soon as dollars’ inflow into the country will soon be increased than outflow.

Referring to the tough economic decisions taken by the coalition government, the minister said, “Nobody is happy with the surgery, however, sometimes it’s necessary.”

“Fears of default have ended and the policymakers also knew it,” Miftah added.

The minister said that a policy plan will be devised soon and claimed the country will witness an increase in exports and a decrease in imports in the next three months.

He maintained that it was no fun going to the IMF, China and Saudi Arabia asking for money.

The finance minister said that IMF inflows will materialise within the next few weeks. Responding to a question about the delay in meeting with the lending body, the minister said that IMF directors will go on vacation from August 1 to 15.

‘Friendly countries rejected Pakistan’s request’

Replying to another query, the finance minister said that they approached a friendly country for dollar-denominated deposits to shore up foreign exchange reserves, but they turned down Islamabad’s request, saying that the country has not returned the loan taken earlier.

However, the friendly country showed interest in buying shares in government-owned entities under a buyback agreement.

The friendly country “wants to help us” and is giving Pakistan “a good deal”, said the finance minister.