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Pakistan is high on hopes about inking a lucrative investment deal with Saudi Arabia very soon. Both the countries will consider the domains of investment in the upcoming meeting at Islamabad in the first week of October.
There were some rumors that Riyadh would invest $10 billion in Pakistan. However, finance minister Asad Umer rejects the reports saying that the volume of investment had already been decided.
According to Asad Umer, the prime minister’s visit was meant to make agreements at the highest level with the King of Saudi Arabia and build a stronger relationship. In principle, only verbal discussions have taken place so far.
“We have discussed trade-related issues, foreign direct investment, visa fees, and issues faced by our laborers,” he added.
The finance minister also rejects the claims that Pakistan was facing a severe financial crisis. He believes that Pakistan is not in an emergency situation that requires it to rush to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to seek a bailout.
“We have neither stopped imports nor imposed financial sanctions,” said the minister. However, he highlighted that it was significant to be prudent while taking economic decisions.
“We need to take well-measured decisions. As a situation emerges, we take steps to manage it. We don’t want to take decisions in an emergency.”
Talking about the expected arrival of an IMF team that is due on 27th of this month. He revealed that Pakistan is in discussion with IMF, but this is not to negotiate for a loan. His purpose is to do the homework, in case if approaching IMF has become necessary at some stage.
When asked about regulating the balance of payment deficit, Umer replied “We are eliminating the root cause of this problem, and that root cause is a fiscal deficit. We have done that through the recent finance bill which will reduce our cost of import.”
In the recent visit of PM Imran Kha to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, he discussed the measures for trade intensification and investment. Umer hopes that these measures will help fill the external financing gap.
Pakistan is also consistently communicating with banks and international market for investment. Moreover, the Chinese factor can also be utilized to enhance the country’s exports to reduce the burdens of external payments.
Asad Umer also revealed that the prime minister is going to attend the upcoming international trade exhibition as one of the chief guests in China on the 4th and 5th of November.
The government is also expected to announce dollar-based saving certificates periodically for overseas Pakistanis.