State of economy: Dar rejects all speculations

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has stated that speculations are being spread about the country’s economy, apparently with political designs, adding that Pakistan would make a payment of $1 billion Sukuk Bond in time in the first week of next month.

While speaking at state-owned television on Saturday, he said some baseless and irresponsible speculations are being spread about the country’s economy, which he claimed apparently seems political for the objective.

The finance minister said that Pakistan had never defaulted on its international payments except once in 1971 when East Pakistan was separated on a small transaction of a US insurance company. The minister added Pakistan would make payment in the first week of December 2022 on its sovereign Sukuk Bond of $1 billion.

The rumors being spread that Pakistan would not be able to make payment of $1 billion are baseless as Pakistan would not only make payment of its Sukuk Bond in time but has also, in principle, made arrangements for other repayments for the fiscal year is being made.

However, he said that such speculations had consequences for the domestic economy as well as on international relations as multilateral or bilateral and others seek clarification about the veracity of these things when they hear such things from our own people and being spread through social media or other sources. All those dealing with Pakistan whether multilateral or bilateral financial institutions transactions are affected, he added.

Has Ishaq Dar lost his magic?

Dar further stated that a rumor was spread a few days ago with a political design that by creating a bar that Pakistan’s credit default swap was such a percentage before and now it has increased to 75 per cent. If someone has made speculative calculations about Pakistan’s credit default swap and is being spread by the people who had held important positions... it is totally unfair to the county.

The minister further stated that internationally, Pakistan’s Eurobond transactions are very small and technically there should be no impact on them.

The finance minister said that another rumor was being spread that there would be a shortage of petrol and diesel in the country which is also baseless. The minister said that the current account deficit is being closely monitored and managed as it was $316 million in September and would be less than $400 million in October 2022 and is expected to be around $5-6 billion as opposed to the projected $12 billion for the current fiscal year.

He urged everyone not to make such statements about the economy because it would have an impact.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022