Govt prioritised to enhance exports in budget: Ishaq Dar

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar said Monday that the federal government has prioritised to enhance exports in the budget 2023-24, ARY News reported.

While addressing an event in Islamabad today, Ishaq Dar said that Pakistan will have to resolve its own issues as a nuclear power.

He said that the government would accept recommendations regarding the budget and two committees were formed to remove the flaws. He added that the new budget is based on steps towards economic stability.

READ: Pakistan has fulfilled all necessary conditions of IMF: Ishaq Dar

Dar said that budget 2023-24 was not an election budget or a 45-day budget but steps were taken to stabilise the national economy. “In 2017, Pakistan became 24th biggest economy globally but it fell down to 47th due to poor performance of the previous government.”

“People were talking about the bankruptcy of Pakistan but we made difficult and unpopular decisions to improve the economy. We will have to think beyond the personal interests for the development of the country.”

The finance minister blamed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government for denting Pakistan’s reputation by violating the conditions set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

READ: Ishaq Dar unveils federal budget for FY 2023-24 with total outlay of 14.5tr

Dar said that he believes in a secure future for Pakistan and they paid a high political price for it. He added that Pakistan can go forward and collective efforts should be made instead of doing blame game.

Earlier, Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Ishaq Dar described the FY2023-24 budget as being different from past traditional budgets, emphasising its focus on progress linked to economic growth.

The minister was addressing the post-budget press conference in Islamabad a day after he presented the federal budget for Fiscal Year 2023-24 with a total outlay of Rs14.5 trillion.

Addressing the presser, the finance minister said that the coalition government will remove reservations of traders before passing the federal budget from parliament. The minister said that he will form 2 committees to address business-related issues and technical matters.