Pakistan was on the verge of a financial catastrophe when Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif came forward and saved the country from a default, Federal Minister for Development and Planning Ahsan Iqbal said at a workshop in Karachi on Monday.
According to 24NewsHD TV, Iqbal said in his speech that Pakistan was very close to a serious economic and nuclear crisis in April 2022. He said the government had no money and the situation was very risky. He said that Prime Minister Shehbaz took brave steps, raised fuel prices and followed a very tough IMF deal to save the country from a default.
“It was not an easy decision, but it saved Pakistan,” he told the audience at NED University during a workshop on Big Data and Cloud Computing. He said, “Had Pakistan failed to repay its loans, it could have become a nuclear risk. We had to increase petrol prices by Rs150 because of the deal signed by the previous government with the IMF.
He said, “It was a very hard time. The people and the government both took pain to save the country.” He said that interest rate went down from 23% to 12% and the stock market is now performing better.
Iqbal said that America is powerful because of its schools and science labs, not just weapons. He said that Pakistan must focus on STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). He shared that in the past, Pakistan started a programme to send 10,000 students to America for PhD studies. “Now we will start this program again,” he said.
He also invited American universities to open campuses in Pakistan to help students. He said the government was now working on new technologies, nanotechnology and quantum technology. He said, “Today, data is very important. If we learn how to use data, we can make our businesses and country strong. We need to bring a digital change in Pakistan.”