‘Govt upbeat to bring back looted $200bn from Swiss banks to Pakistan’

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning & Development Ahsan Iqbal said government will initiate formal contact with the Swiss authorities in August this year to bring back $ 200 billion kept in Swiss banks, ARY News reported Monday.

Addressing a news conference in Islamabad, the minister said the looted money will be brought back to Pakistan. He also rejected allegations of Imran Khan against the PML-N. “It does not suit national leaders to level false allegations,” he added.

He said Imran feared his popularity would nosedive if Lahore-Karachi Motorway was constructed. Imran, he said, was trying to save his sinking politics.

Iqbal said National Bank and State Bank of Pakistan were supervising the Prime Minister Youth Loan Scheme. He told that government did not make any increase in salaries of federal ministers. He asked Imran should inform whether pay raise in ministers’ salaries in KP was raised to appease them.

A package of Rs 36 billion is given to small provinces and under-developed areas, while Punjab was not given a penny out of the stated amount, he claimed.