Interior Minister hits back at ISPR over irresponsible statement
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ISLAMABAD - Interior Minister Asan Iqbal has said that the director general of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) should refrain from commenting on the country’s economic situation.
Iqbal’s comments come days after Chief of Army Staff Qamar Jawed Bajwa, while addressing economists and businessmen during a seminar in Karachi, said the country’s economy was showing mixed indicators and that the tax base needed to be expanded and economic policies continued to be able to break the “begging bowl”.
Talking to a private news channel, Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rasheed claimed that Iqbal’s comments were directed at Chief of Army Staff Qamar Jawed Bajwa’s address at a daylong event organised by the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) and ISPR at the DHA Golf Club.
The army chief had said, “Growth has picked up but the debts are sky high. Infrastructure and energy have improved considerably but the current account balance is not in our favour.”
Ahsan Iqbal, however, insinuated that Pakistan’s economy was stable and the economy was doing a lot better than it was in 2013. He said that irresponsible statements would bring disrepute to the country.
World Bank has also warned that macroeconomic risks in Pakistan have increased substantially during the fiscal year 2017, as the external balance is particularly vulnerable given the persistent current account deficit, affecting the country’s reserve position.
