Addressing a post budget news conference along with Minister of State for Revenue Hammad Azhar and Advisor to PM on Commerce Abdul Razzak Dawood in Islamabad this evening, he said finance bill aims at attracting investment, assisting agriculture, and promoting industry.
Dilating upon the malaise afflicting the national economy, the Finance Minister said the budget deficit due to imbalance between government expenditures and revenues, increasing trajectory of imports vis-a-vis exports and increasing investment are needed to be focused upon to make the economy work on strong footings in the years ahead.
Asad Umar said the government inherited a difficult economic situation when it came to power with outstanding budget deficit of 19 billion dollars. He said immediate steps were taken to ameliorate the financial situation and due to successful visits of Prime Minister Imran Khan to the friendly countries, it is satisfactory to note that financing gap has been bridged for 2019. He said we are thankful to friendly countries on reposing trust on our leadership.
Replying to a question, the Minister said Pakistan will not compromise on harsh terms of any international financial institution, including IMF and IFC. He said negotiations with IMF continue but only such decision will be taken that is in best interest of Pakistan.
He told a questioner that interest rates of loans taken from Saudi Arabia, UAE and China are quite less from those offered by International Finance Corporation.
He said no new tax has been levied in the Finance Bill with the exception of different rates for luxury cars.
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