ISLAMABAD, Oct 08 (DNA): Finance Minister, Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar has said “Dharnas” have miserably failed to attract attention of the people who did not heed the tall claims and slogans.
On his arrival in Washington to attend the annual meetings of World Bank and IMF, he said during the last quarter important economic indicators were positive and refuted the aspersions cast on government’s performance by those leading the sit-ins.
He will meet Ministers/dignitaries from other countries on the sidelines of the two important events and also attend the Donors Conference on Diamer Bhasha Dam. The Minister will also undertake a number of other engagements during his stay in Washington.
Senator Dar was warmly received by a large delegation of resident Pakistanis and other notables besides officials of the Pakistan Mission in USA on arrival.
Talking to the Pakistanis delegation, the Minister said Government was religiously following the agenda of economic reform and development in the country and would not be deterred by any hindrances such as the sit-ins in Islamabad. He said rehabilitation of the flood affectees and large number of IDPs topped the list of government’s priorities. He welcomed participation and assistance of Overseas Pakistanis in the rehabilitation process.
The minister lamented that the dharna politics had harmed image of the country abroad. It has also left a negative impact on foreign investment. He said despite all the difficulties, government would make all out efforts to keep the economy on the track towards revival and development.
He said economic growth had picked up owing to reforms agenda introduced by the present government. The reform process had led to a 4.14 percent GDP growth in FY14 compared to growth at 3.7 percent in FY13. Inflation had been contained at 8.6 percent during FY14 and further contained at 7.5 percent during July-Sept, FY14-15 against 8.1 percent of the corresponding period, last year.
Finance Minister said remittances have shown remarkable growth of 17.45% over last year and during July-Sept. FY15 posted a growth of 13% compared to last year. FBR Tax collection posted a growth of 16% in FY14 and during July-Sept, FY15 increased by 14.3 percent compared to last year. The foreign exchange reserves have increased to $13.5 billion on 1st October 2014, the Minister added.
