During the first 100 days in the office, the new Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government is set to offer dollar bonds to overseas Pakistanis, place China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) agreements before parliament, but is unlikely to offer any relief to the people.
According to a report by local media outlet, the prospective new finance minister Asad Umar during the first formal press conference said that “the first 100 days would also not see a decision that would change the destiny of the nation, but a clear direction on what we promised and where we are headed for stock-taking.”
Asad Umar said that there has been no discussion on revising the budget so far and non-transparency in foreign loans was the real challenge, adding that the international and local media reports have not quoted him accurately.
He further said, “PTI so far did not have access to real data, nor did it have any outside view of the latest situation but based on the best available information, one thing was clear that the requirement was reasonably urgent to examine all available options to finance external account.”
The PTI leader said, “Sukuk bond, Eurobond, bilateral and multilateral options were on the table, but most importantly his party wanted to tap into overseas Pakistanis’ potential in a big way.”
Umar quoted in the report said, “All agreements should be transparent and placed before parliament unless some real secret was involved.”
Similarly, he said that “there was no question of going back on any international commitment or reopening any agreement unless some clear wrongdoing or corruption appeared and there should not be any problem to take them up with the Chinese government.”
He said the Chinese ambassador held a meeting with PTI chairman Imran Khan and had a follow-up session with him in which “matters relating to taking the CPEC to the next level were discussed without any specific proposals”.
Furthermore, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government was criticized for presenting an “unrealistic budget and reckless spending for political means” which had increased fiscal deficit, adding that the current situation of the country was dire and required “tough decisions for course correction”.
He also said, “Imran Khan would not distribute jobs in D-Chowk, but increase revenues, reduce expenditures and open up six areas for investments and job creation.”
