Improving exchange rate my first priority, says Ishaq Dar

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has said that improvement in exchange rate was his first and controlling inflation second priority, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

Ishaq Dar was talking to newsmen after appearing before an accountability court here today. “Zubair Umar and Miftah Ismail did their best. The dirt of four years could not be cleaned in six months,” Pakistan’s new finance minister said.

“Pakistan has been saved from bankruptcy, we will further improve it,” Dar said. “Give me few days, presently I could not say anything about fuel prices,” he added.

“Rupee was stable at 104.5 per dollar in 2018 during the PML-N government, our growth rate was 6.3 percent at that time”. “Inflation and price hike is result of damage to Pakistani rupee. This damage to the currency in around four years could not be reversed in six months,” finance minister said.

“As a nation, we have so many challenges,” he further said.

“We were going to become 18th largest economy of the world, but now becoming 54th economy,” he lamented. “We have lost past 3 years and nine months,” he added.

Earlier, Ishaq Dar appeared before an accountability court in NAB’s assets reference against him.

The court has received your plea for cancellation of arrest warrant, accountability judge told him. The court allowed the federal minister to leave after signing attendance.

“Where were you for long time,” the judge asked Ishaq Dar. ” I went to overseas for illness. Imran Khan government had cancelled my passport thus could not return back to Pakistan,” he said.

The court issued notice to the NAB and summoned Ishaq Dar on October 07.

The plea of cancelling warrants will be heard with the assets reference.