Call me bad but not country, Asad tells Bilawal

Ag Agencies

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Finance Asad Umar Saturday admitted that the country was 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 to a news item that quoted him as saying that 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 Mr. 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 next month after which efforts will be made to convince the IMF to dispatch the Fund’s mission for finalise the details of the Fund program,” he said when The News contacted him for comments on Saturday. The minister said he would be attending the IMF/WB annual spring meeting scheduled to be held at Washington from April 10 to 12. 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 in order 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 in a bid to fulfill 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 was now under control which was a challenging situation when they came into power. He said the biggest challenge right now was 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 $1218 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 was a good development that the current account deficit was declining.

He, however, suggested that there was need to analyse the situation more cautiously, as remittances had shown growth that resulted into achieving a good figure on the current account deficit front.