Dollar to slide rapidly: Dar

Advises entrepreneurs to encash greenbacks; assures rupee stability; promises gas supply to textile
industry; says privatisation of PIA, Discos at all costs


Mansoor Ahmad
Sunday, December 15, 2013
From Print Edition


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LAHORE: Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has advised entrepreneurs to encash their
dollars immediately, guaranteeing them that from now on the rupee would start gaining
strength and the dollar would decline rapidly.

He was addressing a function organised by the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) to
celebrate the grant of GSP-Plus status to Pakistan at the Governors House on Saturday.

Members of the European Parliament and ambassadors of EU countries also attended the event that
was followed by a showcasing of Pakistani fashion garments by the renowned models of the country.

Ishaq Dar hoped that the opportunity provided by this facility would be fully exploited. He said the
government would facilitate the entire textile chain in achieving higher exports by assuring regular
supplies of power and energy. Punjabs industry, he added, would be assured two days gas supply a
week though it would mean curtailing gas for the power sector.

He said that running industry was more important and they were toying with the idea of operating
gas-run plants on expensive alternative fuel or resort to 1.5 hours of loadshedding. We want you to
run 24/7 to ensure the highest production, he said, adding, the government had full faith in textile
entrepreneurs.

He conceded that the economy at the moment was not in a good shape. We are carrying the baggage
that we inherited, he said and added that things were improving and against a growth target of 2.9
percent the country posted GDP growth of 5 percent in the first quarter of this fiscal. If the growth
momentum remains the same in the next three quarters, we will achieve the growth targeted in three
years, that is, half of the period.

He said all global rating agencies had upgraded Pakistans rating and foreign investors were now
eyeing the Pakistani market. He said the government was pursuing policies that were in Pakistans
national interest. He said the present regime had gone ahead with the programme of producing power
from coal despite reservations expressed by the US and some European countries. We need cheap
energy immediately and coal energy projects can be installed in the shortest possible time. He said
the United States, India and China were producing most of their power through coal. He said that
Pakistan lost a few votes in the EU Parliament on GSP-Plus because certain member countries had
reservations over the coal power projects.

For the long-term, we are going for environment-friendly clean power hydro-electric and civil nuclear
power plants, he said and added that power shortages would be fully addressed in the next four
years.

He said the present government had taken some unpopular decisions in the best interest of the
country. This might have cost us some popularity but we want to leave a legacy that ensures
sustained growth in Pakistan, he said.

Dar said that privatisation of PIA and electricity distribution companies (discos) will be done at all
costs and preparation had been made in this regard.

He said the government was striving for a better market access in the United States as well. However,
he pointed out, the US trade representative during talks in the United States had listed many items
from Pakistan that could easily be exported to the US even now. He said he had asked the
entrepreneurs to exploit the market for those items. He also regretted that the Trade Development
Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) was not performing its duty by failing to inform Pakistani businessmen
about this potential.

Regarding foreign exchange reserves, the finance minister said that the situation would start
improving from January. A lot of investment and donors help was in the pipeline which would improve
the reserves to a comfortable level. He said the target of increasing foreign reserves would be
achieved much before the three-year deadline he had given.

Dar clarified that, while talking on a talk show he had said that the rebound in rupee value would be
similar to the one witnessed in 1998-99 when the Pak rupee had rebounded from Rs67 against the
dollar to Rs54 in a short time. I, however, gave no specific value at which the dollar would be
available. He said that he could only ensure that there would be no more decline in the rupees value
from now onward.

Aptma Chairman Yasin Siddique and Aptma group leader Gohar Ejaz also spoke on the occasion.