ISAMABAD: State Minister for Finance Dr.Aisha Ghaus Pasha has vowed that Pakistan will make debt payments to Paris Club and have multilateral loan rescheduling in time.
Talking to media persons after the senate standing committee on finance on Tuesday, the minister said that we would neither go to the Paris Club nor the country would default on payments to multilateral, international agencies or commercial banks.
There is a strong possibility that the restructuring of bilateral loans with some countries can be considered, she added.
When asked about the central bank governor Jameel Ahmed’s recent rebuttal on restructuring bilateral debts in the background, the minister said she was unaware of what the governor said and simply stated that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had already explained everything in this regard.
The Minister said that the economic team of the country is constantly in touch with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Fund has held a meeting with the FBR as well as SBP besides meetings with the Finance Division.
There is regular back and forth meeting with the IMF and the fund is not only taking data but is also seeking details and clarifications.
If both sides are engaged and are constantly in touch then there is no reason to lose hope, she said.
Responding to questions about a forex forex amnesty, she said that the government is not giving any amnesty to overseas Pakistanis in the budget and with respect to questions about increasing remittances limit; the minister said that this provision was already in the law and it has only been updated following depreciation of exchange rate.
