Ishaq Dar tasked to control dollar, bring down inflation

LONDON: PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif has tasked his close aide and party’s finance guru, Ishaq Dar, to control the rising dollar rate and bring down inflation that has affected the government badly.

The former finance minister has departed from London for Islamabad after remaining in exile for five years in the UK where he had gone for treatment.

The PML-N has announced that Dar will take oath as senator soon after reaching Pakistan and assume the finance ministry charge following the resignation of Miftah Ismail.

Dar, ahead of his departure, accepted that he faces an uphill task in Pakistan, and added that with God's blessings he hopes to bring the economy back to the stage it was at when the PML-N was last in power.

"The whirlpool Pakistan went through in the last four years is hidden from no one. Fortunately, I am returning to the same office that I left five years back," Dar told reporters.

The PML-N leader said that Pakistan's economy, under Nawaz, was on its way to becoming one of the strongest global economies, with low-interest rates, decade-high growth, a stable rupee, and a huge forex reserve.

"This will be my aim. To bring Pakistan's [economy] back on track. The economy is constantly faltering," the PML-N leader added.

The senator-elect added that a "fake" case was concocted against him regarding the filing of taxes. "I have never failed to file taxes in my life," the PML-N leader said.

Dar will face challenging times upon his arrival as the Pakistani rupee has recently escaped an all-time low against the dollar, the stock market has been lacklustre, and forex reserves are continuously depleting — standing at $8,346.4 million as of September 16.

His return comes after an accountability court last week suspended his outstanding arrest warrant and gave Dar a fortnight to appear before the court.

Accountability Court Judge Mohammad Bashir suspended the arrest warrant — issued on December 11, 2017 — in the assets beyond means case.