PTI negotiated highly flawed programme with IMF, claims Dar

ISLAMABAD: Former finance minister Ishaq Dar has said that the PTI-led government negotiated a highly flawed programme with the IMF by accepting an unprecedented devaluation of rupee against dollar and hiking of interest rate, resulting in massive inflationary pressures in Pakistan.

It was the biggest mistake committed by PTI led regime that they devalued the currency and hiked interest rates, he added. He said that he did not see the possibility of revival of the IMF program. He claimed Pakistan had never got support from the IMF during their tenure as it was standalone economic performance that was acknowledged by everyone at that time.

He proposed that heavy penalty and imprisonment should be imposed on those who, according to him, had wrongly inserted into the JIT report on alleged dictation that he did not file his due returns for the last 20 years, from 1981 to 2001 despite being elected as a parliamentarian and former minister. He said that he had never delayed filing of his returns even for 20 minutes, so all those who told lies should be put behind the bars. He said if the finance minister had not filed his returns, he should be hanged. However, such a fraudulent process has to be buried.

In a chat with this scribe on Monday, Ishaq Dar claimed that when he had negotiated the IMF program in 2013, he had told the Fund clearly that it was none of their business to tell us about the exact level of the exchange rate. However, he said the PTI-led regime accepted an unprecedented devaluation of rupee against the dollar that had nosedived to Rs168 against a dollar. Now the rupee had gained strength but was again losing its ground. Secondly, he said that he had never accepted the IMF demands on the interest rate as he agreed in principle that it should be in positive mode, if inflation stood at 4 percent, the interest rate should be hovering around in the range of 5 to 5.25 percent.

He said that there was no possibility of bringing down the inflationary pressures in Pakistan keeping in view policies of this “heartless” regime, arguing that the government was eyeing to collect Rs130 billion as GIDC and Rs610 billion as Petroleum Levy in the current fiscal year.

He said that the circular debt had increased by Rs110 billion each year under the five-year term of PMLN but despite rampant increases in power tariff, the circular debt went up by over Rs400 billion each year during the last three-year rule of PTI. In every sphere of economic front, their economic performance is pathetic and their wrong policies are fuelling inflationary pressures.

“I don’t foresee any chance that the rising inflationary pressures are coming down. This is a heartless regime which is focusing only on minting money from pockets of consumers,” former finance minister Ishaq Dar said.

He recalled Asad Umar’s assertion where he called PL as Jagga Tax and stated that the PMLN had brought down levy on light diesel and kerosene oil to negative level but how they could justify raising the POL prices in Pakistan at the moment.

He said that their financiers belonging to the sugar sector earned double profits, which had increased from Rs350 to Rs700 billion. The power prices had increased manifold but the circular debt went up by over Rs400 billion each year in the last three years of PTI government.

He said that prices of 14 essential commodities were not allowed to increase during the five-year term of PMLN but this regime did not care about it. There is a lack of clarity and there is no will to fix the economy, he added.

He said that the PMLN had performed well on the economic front in its first three years and in the first three years every IFIs leader visited Pakistan. Dar said that the elections held in 2013 were fairly free and this credit went to former COAS General (Retd) Ishfaque Pervez Kiani.

He said that the PML-N had obtained minor waivers under the IMF program from 2013-16 that could be termed as routine corrective measures. However, the PTI accepted all conditions of the IMF programme without having any vision, he added.

He said that the FBR’s target of Rs5,829 billion would not be achieved. There were several measures which were reversed by the Finance Minister on the occasion of his wind-up speech, so only a miracle could help achieve the FBR target.

He said that Mian Nawaz Sharif was not ready to listen to anyone for compromise as he wanted to stick to the 1973 Constitution. Everyone should correct themselves as dictated decisions will not serve any purpose.