Photo courtesy PID
Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) Senator Ishaq Dar was on Wednesday sworn in as a federal minister, a day after he took oath of office as a senator following five years spent in London in self-imposed exile.
On Tuesday, Miftah Ismail officially tendered his resignation as finance minister, exiting the office less than six months after he took the charge. This paved the way for Dar, who has been a constant critic of Ismail’s policies, saying the Pakistani rupee’s exchange rate against the dollar needs to be monitored and inflation reduced.
Dar, who left Pakistan for London in October 2017, before taking oath as senator, was administered oath as minister by President Arif Alvi at an event that was also attended by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. This is the fourth time the PMLN leader would be heading the finance minister—he had previously served as finance minister from 1998-1999; 2008; and 2013-2017.
“The president, on the advice of the prime minister, has been pleased to appoint Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar as federal minister … with immediate effect,” read a notification issued by the Cabinet Division after the oath-taking.
Addressing media after being sworn in, the new finance minister slammed the ousted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led government for cratering Pakistan’s economy. “Food inflation was two percent [when the PMLN’s 2018 government ended] the reserves were at their highest, the rupee was stable at 104.50 and Pakistan’s growth was at 6.3 percent,” he said. “You name it and the trouble, the problem is there [with the PTI],” he said, referring to the currency exchange rate, record inflation and high interest rates.
Stressing that the ruling coalition would be unable to completely reverse the “destruction” caused by the PTI in its four years of power, he nonetheless said that the nation would overcome this challenge as it had previous ones.
To a question on whether he planned to support the rupee through interventions as he had earlier, he said this was a “massive lie,” noting Pakistan did not have the funds necessary for this. He claimed the rupee had remained strong during the PMLN’s previous tenure due to “natural growth” arising from the policies of the government.
On inflation, he said this was primarily due to the country’s imports. “We believe in a market-based economy but no one will be allowed to play games with Pakistan’s currency,” he added.