KARACHI: Former chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Shabbar Zaidi Thursday said that his recent speech at Hamdard University, in which he said that Pakistan is bankrupt, is being “misreported”.
“My speech in Hamdard University is being misreported,” tweeted Zaidi on Thursday. He said that his presentation was 30 minutes long; however, only three minutes “have been cherry-picked”.
“Yes I said that with this constant current account and fiscal deficit there are issues of bankruptcy and going concern but look at the solution,” said Zaidi.
A day earlier, Zaidi, during a wide-ranging address at the university, had said Pakistan at the moment is “a bankrupt entity”.
“In accounting language, Pakistan at present is not in a going concern position,” said Zaidi. “We may say that we have made a lot of progress, or the country is running smoothly but that is wrong. In my view, the country at the moment is bankrupt. It is better to admit that the country is bankrupt and now it is time to fix it,” Zaidi had said.
However, despite clarifying that the remarks were taken out of context, Zaidi on Thursday said: “What I said was with a basis and conviction.” He also urged people to listen to his entire speech.
However, Zaidi’s controversial remarks did not sit well with many, including Ministry of Finance Spokesperson Muzzammil Aslam, who questioned Zaidi on his statements.
“With all due respect, how do you figure out we are bankrupt? This is big statement whether taking in context or out of context. It’s not enough to say the matter is being misreported,” said Aslam in a tweet.
Zaidi replied that if the media is reporting a part without context “then I am not responsible”. Zaidi said that he is not a politician, but someone who knows economics. “The situation in Pakistan is not good. Read the whole presentation,” he said.
During his thirty minutes speech, he had talked about the external issues being faced by Pakistan and emphasised the need to revamp the exchange policies. While criticising the discount rate set by the State Bank of Pakistan, he had said that the central bank should consider the experts/market views regarding the discount rate.
He had also underscored the importance of volumetric exports. “To enhance the volume of export, the export sector needs to be price competitive in the international market. This is why we need to cut down the huge transportation cost within the country during the manufacturing of products”, he had added.
