Pakistan out of balance-of-payments crisis, says finance minister

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Asad Umar Tuesday said that Pakistan came out of a balance-of-payments crisis, after Saudi Arabia and China equally filled a gap of $12 billion in its payments.

Umar said so while addressing a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi. He said that now there was no balance-of-payment crisis in the country.

The finance minister said that a high-level delegation,which will also include the State Bank governor, will be visiting China on November 9. 

"A decision has been made in principle and the November 9 meeting is to ascertain its features," he said, while speaking of a financial assistance deal with Beijing.

Last month, Prime Minister Imran Khan struck a 12-month deal for a balance-of-payment lifeline during his visit to Saudi Arabia, which will deposit $3 billion with Pakistan's central bank and provide a matching one-year deferred payment facility for oil imports.

Umar lamented public outcry over poor economy for the past two months, noting that they had taken several measures for [increasing] exports of the country.

He said their focus was on long-term stability in the country.

Meanwhile, Qureshi said they should not be inquired after every foreign tour as to what did the government get.

"Some other things are also achieved during [foreign] visits," he said.

The foreign minister said the prime minister's visit to China was useful, adding that the two countries already had strategic partnership, but the incumbent government wanted to expand this partnership to [bilateral] trade.

He said the purpose of the visit was to convey a positive message by the new government to China with regard to bilateral ties.

"Nearly 15 MoUs were signed during the visit, which helped promote economic cooperation with China," Qureshi said, adding that they had decided to "upgrade" strategic relations with Beijing.

He said the visit will help transform existing relations between Pakistan and China into economic ties.

The minister said they knew how to safeguard Pakistan's interests. He said the United States has offered to play its role in Pakistan-Afghanistan talks on water issue.

Qureshi further said that US Ambassador Alice Wells was received and her meeting with Pakistani officials was organised at an appropriate level in Islamabad on Tuesday.

"It is impossible for us to do anything without taking Parliament into confidence," he added.