Ishaq Dar challenges Imran Khan to live debate on economy

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has held Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan responsible for ‘country’s economic crisis’, challenging the former premier to a live debate on the country’s economy, ARY News reported on Friday.

Addressing a press conference via video link, the finance minister strongly criticised Imran Khan for misleading the nation by stating “incorrect” facts and “defaming the country by spreading false propaganda of default”.

Referring to PTI chief’s televised address, Ishaq Dar said that Imran Khan once again lied today and tried to mislead the people. “In today’s media talk, he quoted the wrong figures. Everything he said was based on lies,” he added.

“You [Khan] can hold a live debate and bring the economic survey and the State Bank documents,” he said, asking the PTI chief to not mislead the public by quoting ‘wrong figures’.

Dar further said that the coalition government has sacrificed its political capital to save the country from the ‘wrongful’ decisions taken by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government.

“You [Khan] have admitted that you were brought into power on a stolen election”, Dar said, adding that instead of building on the economy, Imran opted to focus on political victimization.

The finance minister pointed out that when the incumbent government came to power, it had to choose between the welfare of the state and doing politics. “When you lost the vote of confidence, people were standing in queues outside Nawaz Sharif’s house in London for party tickets. But we chose the country over politics,” he claimed.

He elaborated that when the PML-N government was ousted in 2018, it left behind a GDP of 6.10 per cent. Dar said that when they came, the circular debt was at Rs503 billion and when they left it was Rs1.158 trillion. “But when Imran left, the circular debt increased to Rs2.4 trillion”.

“When we left, the stock market capitalization was $100 billion and was rated among the best performing market,” he said, adding: “But by the time Imran left, the stock market’s capitalization fell to $25 billion”.

Talking about the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, Ishaq Dar said that the agreement with the global lender was signed by the PTI government and the incumbent setup had nothing to do with it.

However, he said, when Imran realised he was being ousted, he disowned all the agreements and left behind landmines, adding that Pakistan had only completed one IMF programme in its history which was under the leadership of Nawaz Sharif.

Speaking about Imran’s claims of giving 55 million jobs, the finance minister argued that the economic survey from the PTI setup showed that only 33mn jobs were created.

Imran Khan lambasts govt over ‘economic situation’

Addressing a press conference, Imran Khan lambasted the government over country’s economic situation, where the value of the Pakistani rupee had plummeted while the foreign exchange reserves had also fallen to dangerous levels.

Imran noted that in such a situation, financing will only be offered on terms which could have a direct impact on Pakistan’s national security. “In Sri Lanka and Egypt, when they sought financing in such a situation, they were told to cut their military expenses by half,” he said.

The former premier noted that Pakistan’s national security too could be compromised as the country’s economy falters while raising taxes to astronomical levels in a bid to stabilize the economy.

He regretted that the US dollar gained Rs84 in the first nine months of Shehbaz Sharif led government compared to around Rs30 in his three and a half years. “PTI government left the foreign reserves at $16.4 billion which has now fallen to just $3.6 billion,” he noted.

Imran Khan further claimed that the Consumer Price Index was 12% when he left and could rise to an unprecedented 35%. The Sensitive Price Index was 16%, but now it would reach to up to 50%.