ISLAMABAD:
Minister for Finance Senator Ishaq Dar reiterated on the floor of the
National Assembly on Wednesday that the $1.5 billion which Pakistan had
received was a gift from a friendly country with no economic or
political strings attached and it should not be viewed with suspicion.
“It is a gift to Pakistan and the Pakistani people by a friendly country, as was given in 1998 when $2 billion of free oil was given after restrictions were imposed on us for conducting nuclear tests, which were carried out by the Nawaz Sharif government,” Ishaq Dar, while making a policy statement and responding to points of order in the National Assembly, said.
He maintained that he was giving this statement on behalf of the prime minister and the PML-N government with complete responsibility that the armed forces would not be sent to any country for any kind of cooperation. “I can say this with complete responsibility on behalf of the prime minister and the PML-N government that neither are we sending troops to any country nor Pakistan will supply arms and ammunition to any country as the army would not be used against the country’s interests,” Ishaq Dar said adding Pakistan had a clear a foreign policy in this regard.
He told the house that neither did the $1.5 billion come to Pakistan in a hidden way nor had it begged for the same. “The country’s bank received two instalments of $750 million each on February 19 and March 7,” the finance minister said.
He also maintained that the increase in salaries and pensions in the budget for fiscal year 2014-15 was not under consideration.The opposition members, including the PPP’s Syed Naveed Qamar, PTI’s Shah Mehmood Qureshi, MQM’s Farooq Sattar and PkMAP’s Mehmood Khan Achakzai, following the statement given by the finance minister, looked somewhat satisfied saying Pakistan should stay away from any proxy war.
“Instead of getting involved in any proxy war, Pakistan should improve relations with neighbouring countries,” Achakzai said.Naveed Qamar, however, spoke some harsh words saying the so-called gift had been given by Saudi Arabia. He said those who talked about breaking the begging bowl had been trying to fool the masses.
Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that a categorical statement should come from the prime minister or defence minister that there were no strings attached to the $1.5 billion.Farooq Sattar was of the view that no country could give $1.5 billion as a gift without any conditions. “If your diplomacy is good, why did you not get even one-third of this gifted money from Iran,” he asked.
The finance minister advised the opposition members to be careful while talking on such issues or the friends of Pakistan would be hurt.He said that the gifted money from the friendly country would be kept in the Pakistan Development Fund (PDF) and would be spent on uplift of infrastructure like roads and railways in the next four years.
While talking about the planned uplift and development of infrastructure, Senator Dar particularly mentioned the extension of the motorway up to Karachi saying it would cost Rs800 billion. “It is the dream of the prime minister to extend the motorway to Karachi,” he said.
The finance minister told the house that it was due to the government’s policies that Pakistan would float the Euro Bond in the international market in the first week of next month, keeping in view the confidence expressed by the foreign investors, and expressed the confidence that the exercise would help in garnering $500 million.
He said when the present government took over, the economic indicators were a matterof concern for it saying the fiscal deficit was 8.8 percent while the tax to GDP growth rate was just 8.5 percent.
He said that he was also ready to give details of the measures taken to strengthen the national economy. For this purpose, he said the government had to take some painful decisions but the tax collection had also increased by 17 percent.
Regarding the increase in electricity tariff for the month of March, he said it had to be done on account of fuel adjustment charges.At the same time, he pointed out that the government would have to pay subsidy between Rs250 to Rs270 billion to consumers using electricity up to 200 units. “So far we have paid Rs167 billion subsidy to such consumers,” he said.
“It is a gift to Pakistan and the Pakistani people by a friendly country, as was given in 1998 when $2 billion of free oil was given after restrictions were imposed on us for conducting nuclear tests, which were carried out by the Nawaz Sharif government,” Ishaq Dar, while making a policy statement and responding to points of order in the National Assembly, said.
He maintained that he was giving this statement on behalf of the prime minister and the PML-N government with complete responsibility that the armed forces would not be sent to any country for any kind of cooperation. “I can say this with complete responsibility on behalf of the prime minister and the PML-N government that neither are we sending troops to any country nor Pakistan will supply arms and ammunition to any country as the army would not be used against the country’s interests,” Ishaq Dar said adding Pakistan had a clear a foreign policy in this regard.
He told the house that neither did the $1.5 billion come to Pakistan in a hidden way nor had it begged for the same. “The country’s bank received two instalments of $750 million each on February 19 and March 7,” the finance minister said.
He also maintained that the increase in salaries and pensions in the budget for fiscal year 2014-15 was not under consideration.The opposition members, including the PPP’s Syed Naveed Qamar, PTI’s Shah Mehmood Qureshi, MQM’s Farooq Sattar and PkMAP’s Mehmood Khan Achakzai, following the statement given by the finance minister, looked somewhat satisfied saying Pakistan should stay away from any proxy war.
“Instead of getting involved in any proxy war, Pakistan should improve relations with neighbouring countries,” Achakzai said.Naveed Qamar, however, spoke some harsh words saying the so-called gift had been given by Saudi Arabia. He said those who talked about breaking the begging bowl had been trying to fool the masses.
Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that a categorical statement should come from the prime minister or defence minister that there were no strings attached to the $1.5 billion.Farooq Sattar was of the view that no country could give $1.5 billion as a gift without any conditions. “If your diplomacy is good, why did you not get even one-third of this gifted money from Iran,” he asked.
The finance minister advised the opposition members to be careful while talking on such issues or the friends of Pakistan would be hurt.He said that the gifted money from the friendly country would be kept in the Pakistan Development Fund (PDF) and would be spent on uplift of infrastructure like roads and railways in the next four years.
While talking about the planned uplift and development of infrastructure, Senator Dar particularly mentioned the extension of the motorway up to Karachi saying it would cost Rs800 billion. “It is the dream of the prime minister to extend the motorway to Karachi,” he said.
The finance minister told the house that it was due to the government’s policies that Pakistan would float the Euro Bond in the international market in the first week of next month, keeping in view the confidence expressed by the foreign investors, and expressed the confidence that the exercise would help in garnering $500 million.
He said when the present government took over, the economic indicators were a matterof concern for it saying the fiscal deficit was 8.8 percent while the tax to GDP growth rate was just 8.5 percent.
He said that he was also ready to give details of the measures taken to strengthen the national economy. For this purpose, he said the government had to take some painful decisions but the tax collection had also increased by 17 percent.
Regarding the increase in electricity tariff for the month of March, he said it had to be done on account of fuel adjustment charges.At the same time, he pointed out that the government would have to pay subsidy between Rs250 to Rs270 billion to consumers using electricity up to 200 units. “So far we have paid Rs167 billion subsidy to such consumers,” he said.
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