ISLAMABAD – Finance Minister Asad Umar on Tuesday said that the government is seeking loans from multiple sources in order to get loan from the International Monetary Funds (IMF) on better terms.
Defending the government’s move to get loans from friendly countries, the finance minister said: “We want the next IMF programme to be the last one”. He asked the opposition parties to give suggestions in order to achieve this goal.
Former speaker and PML-N leader Ayaz Sadiq had recently urged the government to take the parliament into confidence over its talk with the IMF, Saudi Arabia and China.
Umar, responding to it, said that the PTI government did not want to depend on a single source to meet the financial needs of the country.
Pakistan secured a $3billion deal when Prime Minister Imran Khan visited Saudi Arabia, he said, adding that the previous finance minister must know taht all the money did not come from the IMF only.
He also rejected the notion that stock market had crashed due to delay on IMF programme, adding that the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) 100-index had lost 15,000 points during the previous government of PML-N.
He also higlighted the market lost only four points since the PTI formed the government, adding that 100-index benchmark surged by 5,000 point in past 10-12 days.
Pakistan’s biggest trade deficit is with China, he pointed, adding that Beijing is fully committed to bridge this gap.
PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal was to deliver his rebuttal when the finance minister left the house, sparking outrage in the National Assembly.
Over the finance minister’s action, PPP’s Khursheed Shah protested and said that the debate cannot be continued in the absence of Asad Umar.
“We will not participate in the debate on the economy until the finance minister comes back,” Shah demanded while walking out the NA session
With the opposition benches empty, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry took centre stage and lashed out at the opposition for walking out.
