Pakistan economic crisis: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar gets trolled for saying ‘Allah responsible for country's prosperity’

Pakistan finance minister Ishaq Dar’s recent comments on the country’s development have drawn flak from different quarters as the country grapples with an economic crisis. Dar, who was addressing an event in Pakistan, said his country was created in the name of Islam and that it is the responsibility of Allah to make it prosperous.  

The senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader said that he had full faith that Pakistan would progress because it was created in the name of Islam. The comment comes at a time when Pakistan’s weekly inflation has surpassed 31 per cent, onion prices have surged by more than 500 per cent and rates on rice, pulses and wheat are up almost 50 per cent. 

The minister said that Pakistan’s progress is “Allah ke zimme”, which means that the country’s prosperity is god's responsibility.  

Dar added that Pakistan was seeing such tough days due to the misdeeds of the previous government. He said that Pakistan's economy was going strong under Nawaz Sharif's leadership between the years 2013 and 2017. He said that the Pakistan Stock Exchange was the best capital market in South Asia and ranked fifth under Nawaz Sharif's tenure. "Pakistan was on the growth track during Nawaz's tenure, but it was derailed," he said. 

"People can see the destruction the country has suffered in the last five years, and they know who has delivered in the past," Dar added. 

The comments drew criticism online as netizens blasted the finance minister for failing to curb the economic crisis in the country.   

 

Pakistan, which has been reeling under the drastic aftermath of deadly floods in 2022, is facing one of the worst crises since its independence. Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif in January 2023 has openly sought financial support from international communities and said Pakistan required a huge sum of $30 billion to recover from the floods. 

Recently, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that its team would visit Pakistan from January 31 to February 9 for the review of the $1.18 billion fund, part of the $6 billion bailout package Islamabad secured in 2019.  

Initially, the international agency had refused to send a team to Pakistan to complete the review. The IMF had clearly said that it wants Pakistan to carry out more reforms and end subsidies, as the country is not in a position to afford the freebies.  

Among other conditions, the IMF has said that Pakistan should also do away with electric subsidies, linking gas prices to the international market, and free-floating dollars. 

On Friday, the Pakistani rupee touched its new low against the US dollar in the interbank and open market and closed at Rs 262.6. The rupee closed at 262.6 per dollar in the interbank market, down 2.7%, on Friday, after a 9.61 per cent slump on Thursday, which was its biggest single-day dip, according to the central bank. 

This was due to the news that an IMF team was visiting Islamabad next week to discuss unlocking a suspended bailout package. 

Former finance minister Miftah Ismail told Geo TV that the unlocked funding from the IMF would help head off the risk of Pakistan defaulting on its external obligations. 

(With agency inputs) 

Also read: Big setback for flood-ravaged Pakistan seeking funds from IMF

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