Govt strives to save ‘hard-earned’ economic stability |
Govt strives to save ‘hard-earned’ economic stability
• Aurangzeb tells lawmakers he is engaged with IMF, friendly partners on reforms• Defends banking restrictions to avoid FATF grey list risk
ISLAMABAD: As senators bemoaned ‘surveillance’ of parliamentarians and their families and dependents in the garb of regulations, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had appreciated Pakistan’s macroeconomic performance and would continue discussions on the impact of prolonged Middle East conflict on inflation, revenues and current account.
Testifying before the Senate Standing Committee on Finance, presided over by Saleem Mandviwalla, the finance minister said the IMF review mission had appreciated Pakistan’s initiatives up to February and agreed to discuss the impact of the Gulf crisis if it prolongs.
The two sides would also review external finance, inflation, revenue, and the current account position in light of regional development, as well as trends in the balance of payments and remittances. He said Pakistan had hard-earned macroeconomic stability and would protect it and build upon it. He said the government was also engaged with friendly partners in this regard.
He said the supply of LNG had stopped, and a $25 million cargo had risen to over $100m at present after Qatar declared a force majeure. He said the oil situation was rapidly fluctuating and the government was proactively taking stock of the situation on a........