Minister for Finance and Revenue Miftah Ismail has said that the rate of inflation will start slowing down from the next month, WealthPK reports.

Addressing a press conference, he termed the hike in electricity and petroleum prices a result of the “unwise” policies of the previous government of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI). “The nation would have to bear the higher rates for one more month,” he added.

The minister said former prime minister Imran Khan did not follow the commitment made with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), especially with regard to subsidies on electricity, gas and petroleum products.

He said that the previous government had committed with the IMF that it would not give any amnesty to the businessmen and subsidies on petroleum, gas and electricity. Going against the commitment, the previous government offered amnesty in February 2022 and then gave subsidies on electricity and petroleum products, he added.

Miftah Ismail termed the present hike in the tariff of electricity and prices of petroleum products a result of the backtracking of the previous government on its commitments made with the IMF.

He said that the then PTI government pushed the country's economy towards the verge of default. Pakistan was then on the fourth number of the defaulting states, he added.

However, the minister said that the prudent policies of the incumbent coalition government steered the country out of crises. He alleged that the previous government of Imran Khan did not work on renewable energy including solar energy.

“Had it worked on the installation of solar energy, the rates of the electricity would be much lower now,” he said. He added that if the electricity load shedding was ended, the prices would further increase which the government might not afford.

Miftah Ismail said that the prices of petroleum products were directly linked to the international market, therefore, he could not predict their prices in the future.

He said the recent floods caused a shortage of some commodities including tomatoes and onion in the country owing to which the prices increased but now they were coming down.

The minister said that the government was in contact with the IMF with respect to the devastation caused by the recent floods.

He said that the assessment of the damage caused by floods was not finalised yet. He said that the government was working with the World Bank to ascertain a reliable and accurate assessment of the losses caused by the recent floods.

Replying to a question regarding trade with India, the minister said that the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) was asking the federal government to allow the import of cotton from India. However, he said that the government had not made any decision in that regard.

He said that commodities such as tomatoes and onion were being imported from Afghanistan. “If the market gets stable with this import, the government would not need to import the commodities from India,” he told the presser covered by WealthPK.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk