Call me bad but not country, Asad tells Bilawal

Ag Agencies

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Finance Asad Umar admitted the country is passing through a bad patch but assured that the obtaining situation won’t lead to where the people would begin to cry.

He was responding on Saturday to a news item that quoted him as saying the inflation would rise and the people would cry. “I have no objection to what Bilawal Bhutto says about me but at least he should not hurt the country’s interest by making a statement against it,” he said.

Conceding that budget deficit and rising inflation are the biggest challenges facing the government after controlling the current account deficit, Asad Umar says the IMF mission is expected to visit Pakistan after mid-April for finalising arrangements for the upcoming bailout package.

“Differences with the IMF have been narrowing down and now the new Mission Chief Ernesto will be reaching Pakistan on a two-day visit from March 26. I will be attending the IMF-WB annual spring meeting in Washington from April 10 to 12 after which efforts will be made to convince the IMF to dispatch the Fund’s mission for finalising the details of the Fund program,” he said when The News contacted him for comments.

Both Finance Minister Asad Umar and IMF’s Resident Chief in Pakistan Teresa Daban Sanchez confirmed to The News that Ernesto Ramirez Rigo would probably be visiting Pakistan from March 26 to 27. Earlier, the IMF’s Mission Chief Mr. Herald Finger had completed his tenure and relinquished his charge. Asad will lead Pakistan’s delegation in upcoming annual spring meeting of Breton Wood Institutions (BWIs) such as the IMF and World Bank and other members of the delegations will be Secretary Economic Affairs Division Noor Ahmed and Governor State Bank of Pakistan Tariq Bajwa.

In this upcoming high- level interaction with the IMF management on the sidelines of the annual spring meeting, the Pakistani authorities are expecting a breakthrough and possibility of dispatching IMF mission to Pakistan after mid of next month to strike staff-level agreement between the two sides.

If everything goes smoothly, then the Ministry of Finance will present the next budget on May 16, 2019 to fulfil all prior actions placed by the IMF. In case of slight delay, the budget could be announced soon after Eidul Fitr in June 2019.

To another query about the worsening fiscal position, the minister said the current account deficit is now under control which is a challenging situation when they came into power. He said the biggest challenge right now is rising budget deficit and inflationary pressures and was hopeful that things would improve on these two fronts.

Meanwhile, in a tweet, the Finance Ministry’s Adviser and official spokesman Dr Khaqan Najeeb said massive correction in external sector imbalances occurred as the current account deficit in Feb 2019 dropped to $356 million from $873 million in January 2019 — a 59 percent reduction. There is 72 percent reduction from $1,218 million in Feb 2018, he added. Credible interventions have produced the desired results and balance of payment stabilisation ensured, he concluded.

When this correspondent contacted renowned economist and former secretary finance Dr Waqar Masood, he said it is a good development that the current account deficit is declining. He, however, suggested that there is need to analyse the situation more cautiously, as remittances have shown growth that resulted into achieving a good figure on the current account deficit front.