Ishaq Dar sworn in as federal minister

ISLAMABAD: Senior PML-N leader Senator Ishaq Dar Wednesday took oath as federal minister a day after swearing in as senator.

President Ari Alvi administered the oath to Ishaq Dar at a ceremony held at the President House also attended by Prime Minster Shahbaz Sharif, senior PML-N leaders and cabinet members.

Dar will be given the portfolio of the finance ministry after Miftah Ismail's resignation from the office. This will be the fourth time Dar is heading the ministry. 

The PML-N leader returned to the country on Monday after a five-year exile in London after a decision was taken by the party supremo Nawaz Sharif in a meeting also attended by PM Shahbaz Sharif.

Dar has been tasked by the party leadership to steer the country out of the crisis.

Dar optimistic

After landing in Islamabad, the PML-N leader said that he will try his best to pull Pakistan out of the [economic] maelstrom it is surrounded with.

“[We] pulled Pakistan out of an economic maelstrom back in 1998 and 2013,” he said.

Separately, in a question-and-answer break during the Senate session, blaming the hundi and hawala businesses, Dar said that the rupee’s value is artificially low, adding that such practices cannot hold the local currency hostage.

Dar said that the US dollar depreciated by around Rs10 against the rupee since he landed in the country, stating that one of the problems faced by the country is the artificial depreciation of the rupee.

“Inflation is also high,” he said listing the issues that the coalition government has to fix.