Dar stresses trade strategy to reverse slowdown in exports

ISLAMABAD: Finance minister Ishaq Dar on Saturday stressed on a broad trade growth strategy aimed at reversing a slowdown in exports, and also emphasised on imposing greater discipline in managing the country’s foreign exchange reserves, a statement said.

“The finance minister stressed upon the need of best possible management of the precious resources (forex) of the country and provision of maximum facilities to the export oriented sectors to enhance exports of the country,” the statement said.

The minister was talking to Ashraf Mehmood Wathra, governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) who met him at his office. The governor briefed the finance minister on the central bank’s recent actions against the illegal currency dealers. Dar was also updated on the foreign exchange reserves situation of the country and the measures adopted by the SBP to facilitate the exporters.

The central bank cracked down on illegal currency dealers after the rupee fell sharply against the dollar in the open market. Dealers said rupees fell almost to the level of Rs108 on shortages of the greenback in the country after remaining stable for almost a year at Rs104 levels .

The finance minister also shared the details of his recent visit of Paris to join the open government partnership (OGP) with the SBP chief. Meanwhile, concluding his visit to Paris, Dar held a meeting with French finance minister Michel Sapin. It was his second meeting with French counterpart in the last three months.

A statement said Sapin congratulated Pakistan on joining the OGP process. He also appreciated the ratification by Pakistan of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Convention on Mutual Assistance on Tax Matters, the statement said.

The federal finance minister informed his French peer of the importance Pakistan attaches to transparency in public matters and his intention to make Pakistan a member of OECD Convention against Bribery in due course. Sapin acknowledged Pakistan’s economic achievements and expressed hope that the journey towards further progress and development would continue.

Both the ministers also discussed trade, economic, and investment relations between the two countries. While expressing satisfaction over the bilateral relations, they emphasised the need to further strengthen ties through the institutional mechanism of Administrative, Economic and Trade Committee (AETC). They also agreed, in principle, to upgrade AETC to ministerial level.