Government and allies are in favour of early elections, says Federal Minister for Finance Miftah Ismail. But because our economy is in such bad shape, we can’t have early elections because of that.
After arriving at Heathrow Airport in London on Thursday, the finance minister told that Pakistan’s economy was in shambles, which is why he was going to Washington to talk about it.
“We need to get back in touch with the IMF” (to tinker our economy). This is why I’m going to the US, Miftah said. The Imran Khan government has made Pakistan more poor and unemployed, Miftah said. He said he would get rid of them.
It’s not possible to hold early elections in Pakistan because the country’s economy can’t handle it. All the government’s allies, including PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, support early elections, but the country can’t afford to do so before it’s time to vote.
He said that you could tell how bad our economy was by looking at unemployment, poverty, and debts. He said that for the economy to get back on its feet, he needed to set up a democratic system.
He said that if talks with the IMF went well, it would keep the rupee’s value stable.
The finance minister said that, unlike the previous government led by Imran Khan, they would not blame each other and work to improve the economy.
Miftah said that some media reports about the PML-N government and the PPP show that there is a split between them over the distribution of ministries. He said that PPP people were friends and that “some of them have come to London with me.”
In the past, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail left for the United States to meet with the International Monetary Fund in order to get a $1billion tranche of money.
I’m going to DC to try to get our IMF programme back on track after PTI and IK messed it up. This is putting our economy at risk. After three years on the ECL, I will be able to go to London on the way and meet my leader, Mian Nawaz Sharif.
I’m going to Washington DC to try to get our IMF programme back on track after PTI and IK messed it up. This could put our economy at risk. After three years on the ECL, I will be able to go to London on the way and meet my leader, Mian Nawaz Sharif.
A tweet from @MiftahIsmail: It will be April 20th, 2022,
He said on Wednesday that the Imran Khan government took out loans worth more than Rs20,000 billion during its four-year term but didn’t pay a penny back. He said this government would do everything it could to get the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme back up and running with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). “The government would do whatever it took to get the programme back on track,” he said.
He said that the government could cut back on public sector development spending by making other budgetary arrangements. “We will bring back the show.” If the government has to cut back, it will, he said, adding that no extra burden will be put on the people.
The funds want the government to do a lot of things to get rid of the subsidies that were given out by the previous government, especially the relief package that Imran Khan announced to help the EFF.
Miftah said that no sane foreign minister would have said that Imran Khan should cut the prices of petrol and electricity. Ex-finance minister Shaukat Tarin had to be paid back because he didn’t want to do it on his own. He said: “This subsidy was not a landmine, but it was an atom bomb, and it needed to be defused as soon as possible.”
