Former finance minister and PML-N leader Miftah Ismail on Thursday claimed that Ishaq Dar hurt Pakistan’s economy due to his careless approach while dealing with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“All of our experts knew this approach was bound to fail and we have seen its result,” the former finance minister said in an interview on local tv channel.
Ismail, who claims he was fired at Dar’s urging, has already voiced his discontent with the incumbent finance minister’s promotion to the job as well as his criticism of the policies of his replacement in public.
The former minister accused Dar of planning a campaign to discredit him earlier this month. Ismail had stated that Dar “used to appear on TV and declare he would pull the dollar down,” adding that “he used to make anchors conduct programs against me.”
During the interview today, Ismail said he had the right to defend himself. “I felt it was necessary to respond to comments made against my competence and my policies. And my party has not taken any action against me.”
Commenting on the prevailing economic crisis, Ismail said Dar underestimated the IMF’s role which hurt Pakistan’s cause.
“Dar sahib, after taking the reins, thought he would fix the economy without the IMF or by scaring the lender to accept Pakistan’s demands, as he had been openly opposing the IMF conditions. He made an attempt and as a result, Pakistan suffered a big loss.”
Ismail said it was, however, encouraging to note that the government had consented to IMF’s terms, which, according to him, could pave the way for the betterment of the economy.
The PML-N leader, while replying to a query, claimed that he was not aware of the events that prompted Dar to succeed him as finance minister. Dar had been making appearances in TV shows and had been picking on me in internal party groups, so I had known for a while that he intended to come back.
