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KARACHI: Miftah Ismail on Friday hinted that his time as finance minister could be cut short, saying that the government has 13 months but he “may not even have that much time”.
“I don’t know how long I will stay, but the government, God willing, will stay for 6.5 years,” he said at an event at Karachi’s Institute of Business Administration (IBA).
“But, to be honest, I work here in a way that I will stay forever. Pakistan will always stay, right? So you have to plan in a way […] that works for the next five years. And then it is the choice of those who come next,” Ismail stated, expressing confidence that the party would win the next election.
The minister’s comments come amid rumours of an internal rift and speculation that the PML-N is considering replacing Miftah with the party’s key financial wizard and former finance minister Ishaq Dar, who is currently in London.
In his talk today, Ismail said that even though he was one of the most “unpopular” politicians in the country right now, he would not compromise on the country’s stability or push it towards a default for “cheap popularity”.
He recalled that soon after coming to power, the government took difficult decisions — which included increasing fuel prices and the import ban — as its first priority was to resume the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.
“When we contacted the IMF, they were livid,” he revealed, citing the PTI government’s breach of agreement — when it announced the subsidies on petroleum products — with the global lender as the reason behind it.
However, Ismail went on, with prudent policies “we were able to save Pakistan from a default”.
The minister also said that the scope of the tax net was being increased and the business class was being brought under the tax net.
Talking about the devastating floods in the country, he vowed not to leave the affected people during these difficult times and would be compensated by utilizing all available resources.
