Islamabad (Staff Report/Agencies): Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday said that the country would not default but did admit that the economy was in a “tight position”.
In his address to investors at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), Dar said he always believed that Pakistan had a prosperous future and “resilience” in its economy. However, he lamented that it was unfortunate that the country has been brought to a point where it should not be.
“It’s been three months since I took charge and we listen every day that there is going to be a default. How will there be a default? There is no chance that Pakistan will default,” the minister assured the investors.
The State Bank of Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves have declined by $11bn during a year. In Dec 2021, the central bank’s reserves were $17.686bn which now stand at $6.7bn as of Dec 9.
Pakistan has to repay at least $13bn in the remaining part of the financial year. But it is unclear when it will receive more inflows from bilateral and multilateral institutions, giving rise to default fears.
Meanwhile, the benchmark KSE-100 index on Wednesday lost 523.48 points, or 1.32 per cent, to close at 39,279.43 points.