People needn’t panic, Pak has valuable assets says Dar  

 Federal Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar has said that the people should not panic as efforts are afoot to overcome the financial crisis, the 24NewsHD TV channel reported on Monday.

He was addressing a post-budget conference at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan in Islamabad on Monday.

Ishaq Dar said collective efforts are needed to overcome challenges faced by the country. Pakistan has the potential to take off again, he predicted.

He said fiscal discipline is vital to stabilize Pakistan’s economy., Ishaq Dar

Ishaq Dar said two committees have been constituted to overcome issues that have surfaced regarding the budget.

He said one committee headed by Chartered Accountants will overcome the anomalies of the budget while the other one will deal with business-related issues and improvements in the budget.                   

He said suggestions for improvement in the budget will be welcomed.  He said all stakeholders must collaborate for stabilizing the economy and putting the country on the path of progress.

He said that the economic situation has not been favorable for the country in the recent past.

“In our previous tenure, the country was developing economically,” Ishaq Dar claimed, adding that there were talks of Pakistan joining the G20 countries in 2030.

 He said that the country is facing a difficult situation again and nobody can get Pakistan out of this situation alone.

“Pakistan's reputation has been affected as assurances were not followed, Dar added.

The minister believed that Pakistan can still get out of this difficult situation. “We have to get Pakistan out of trouble again.”

He said Pakistan has debts of $100 billion only while the Pakistan gas pipeline alone is worth $50 billion.

“Reko Diq's assets are worth $ 3 trillion,” Finance Minister hinted.

He disclosed that overseas Pakistanis send remittances equivalent to 90 percent of exports.

“Overseas Pakistanis have been given incentives in the new budget,” he added.

We have set the target of growth of major sectors including GDP at three and a half percent or more, adds Finance Minister.

He said that these targets are realistic, adding that the economy does not work without discipline.

Ishaq claimed that the tax target of Rs 9200 billion has been set on a scientific basis. “Inflation has averaged 29 percent in the 11 months of the current financial year and the inflation target for next year is 21 percent.

The minister said that the government has set a 3.5% GDP target in the next fiscal year budget.

The finance minister said that Rs 223 billion in new tax measures have been proposed in the new financial year.

Dr lauded that the trend of economic decline has been stopped and now we are on the path of stability and development.

Finance Minister vowed that our goal is to make Pakistan the 24th economy again.