Pakistan will always pay its external debts on time and will never come close to defaulting on them again. The statement was made by the Minister of Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar in a video message. He said that Pakistan is facing an uncertain economic situation but it will not go back on its external debt obligations. “Pakistan remains committed to its international commitments. We reject all the baseless rumors about Pakistan defaulting on its debts.

We have made arrangements for the maturing international payments for the next one year,” he added. He said that irresponsible actors spread fake news about Pakistan’s bankruptcy for their narrow political interests and that there is no truth in them. He urged all the responsible stakeholders to fight the negative propaganda being circulated on social media against Pakistan’s interest. He said these fake rumors hurt the economy of the country and they also effect the bilateral and multilateral relationships of Pakistan with other countries and international bodies.

The minister specifically mentioned the USD 1 billion sovereign bonds (Sukkuk) due to mature in December and said that Pakistan will not default on their payments and will never come close to it. He mentioned rumors about other commitments of the government like the credit default swap and petroleum products, saying that the government had its own method of conducting the credit default swap and it will not default on them.

He said that the government has also arranged the petroleum products for the country and there was no truth in the rumors circulating online regarding their short supply. Ishaq Dar said that these rumors hurt the sentiments about the economy, adding that international institutions then start to ask questions about the economy’s health, which makes it difficult to take the necessary steps for the economy’s correction.

He said that there are also rumors about the current account deficit. “The current accounts are being closely monitored and professionally managed, and the current account deficit for September was USD 316 million, which was expected to be USD 400 million in October,” he added. He continued, “by the end of the going financial year, the current account deficit is likely to be USD 5 to 6 billion, while the target of this deficit for the current financial year is USD 12 billion.

The current account deficit is expected to remain below target.” Considering the positive indicators, Ishaq Dar urged the people to stay optimistic about the economic outlook of the country and ignore the rumors being spread by the negative quarters.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk