Govt ready to hold dialogue with PTI: Dar
08 December, 2014
ISLAMABAD: Federal finance minister Senator Ishaq Dar on Sunday said the government was ready to hold dialogue with PTI as the politics of sit-ins was having a negative impact on the economy and damaging the trust of international investors. “Due to the sit-ins for last many months, trust of investors has been damaged.” He said the government believed in dialogue and the PTI should defer its protest call to resume talks.
He further said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan has turned down the government offer to resume talks so now the government will decide its future strategy after PTI's show in Faisalabad.
Ishaq Dar stated this while talking to media persons here in the federal capital. He said that PTI was invited to hold meeting this evening to remove differences but Imran Khan was adamant to carry on his Monday show in Faisalabad. “He had requested PTI leadership to postpone demonstrations as long as the talks were carried through,” Finance Minister said, adding, “Now the government decides its future strategy after tomorrow”. He said it was wrong to say that prices had been slashed due to the PTI sit-in.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has called for collective efforts to take the country forward on the path of progress and prosperity. Ishaq Dar was addressing the office-bearers of All Pakistan Newspapers Society in Islamabad n Sunday. Minister for Information and Broadcasting Pervez Rashid was also present on the occasion. He said Pakistan has a great future as it has the potential to move forward. He said the PML-N government was working according to its manifesto for the development of the country.
He said the hidden hands became active whenever the country starts moving in the right direction. He said the economy was in shambles when the government took over and the government inherited 503 billion rupees circular debt. He said our government worked day and night to revive the economy. “13.7 per cent increase has been registered in remittances, 16.4 per cent increase in tax collection and foreign exchange reserves have reached 14 billion dollars as a result of policies adopted by the government,” Ishaq Dar said.
He said foreign exchange reserves will touch 15 billion dollars by the end of this month. He said the government has issued the Sukuk bonds on the demand of Islamic Banks and got 2.3 billion dollars offers. He said the release of Sukuk bonds and sale of OGDCL shares were delayed due to sit-ins by PTI and PAT. Ishaq Dar said merit and transparency will be ensured in every department of the government. He said government was paying special attention to economy, energy, education and elimination of terrorism. He assured that payment of arrears of the newspapers will be cleared soon. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said the newspapers have their own importance and said they should educate the people for the greater good of the country.
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