Budget-2013-14: Dar says self-reliance not possible without ending subsidies

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Ishaq Dar has said that the newly elected government inherited battered economy.

Presenting budget in the National Assembly for the next fiscal year here on Wednesday, the minister drew a grim picture of the economy suffering from subsidies, foreign debts, energy crisis and bad governance.

He underlined the need to put an end to subsidies and reliance on others, adding that self-reliance could not be achieved without ending subsidies.

He, however, expressed the hope that Pakistan would regain its lost glory, vowing that the government would ‘turn the tide’.

Dar said results of the recently held election, which saw his PML-N emerging as the single largest party in the National Assembly, was result of ‘accountability’.

The minister said that it seemed the country was being run on autopilot over the last five years.

Ishaq Dar said that the nuclear-armed nation was able to tackle the problems facing the country.