Prosperity revisiting Pakistan after enhanced export, trade volume: Asad Umar
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ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance Asad Umar has said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government was
bringing the country on the road of development and prosperity by enhancing export and trade volume with
neighboring countries.
Talking to a private news channel, he said, “Pakistan’s budget deficit was Rs230 billion before PTI's government, after coming into power we reduced it by Rs130 billion.”
The PTI government had fulfilled its commitment with the nation by taking the country out of inherited financial crisis and was successfully managing the pending external payments.
The finance minister said the government's top priority was to minimize the financial deficit of the national institutions including Pakistan Steel Mills, Pakistan International Airlines and Pakistan Railways by improving their performance and enhancing professional capabilities.
He said the government was considering all the option to strengthen the national economy and was taking viable steps for the uplift of poor through different welfare projects.
After the successful foreign visits of Prime Minister Imran Khan, he said, the government had got a huge economic relief which would help putting back the national economy on track.
The PTI government after managing the external balance payments was not in a hurry for a bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as the government had resolved the financial matters for the current year, he added.
The government had decided to approach the IMF to bridge the gap of $12 billion financial deficit, he said and added Pakistan had already received $1 billion from a total of $3 billion pledged by Saudi Arabia to overcome the crisis.
All the national institutions, including State Bank of Pakistan should not be government's under control, and they should perform independently by playing their due role in the development of the country.
Replying to a question regarding the financial losses in state institutions, he said the government was uprooting corruption from them to decrease their financial losses and enhancing their performance and capabilities with professional trainings.
Regarding foreign investment, he said the foreign investors were investing fearlessly in Pakistan, adding they knew that their investment was more safe and secure under the PTI government.
About the prime minister's visit to China, he said the government had got a huge economic package from China and both the countries had great expectations from China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), he added.
He further said CPEC was a game changer project for the entire region.
To another query, he said the NFC award was very important for smooth functioning of the matters of provinces and federation, adding soon, a meeting would be called to discuss NFC award's matters.
Regarding inflation rate in the country, the minister said the government had planned to reduce the prices of gas and petrol by the next month providing subsidy on POL products.
APP
