Islamabad : Federal Finance Minister Hamad Azhar announced a reduction in petrol and diesel prices.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Hamad Azhar said that the price of petrol would be reduced by Rs 1.5 per liter and diesel by Rs 3 per liter.
Confirming the approval to import sugar and cotton from India, the Finance Minister said that it has been decided to import sugar from India as the price of sugar is lower than Pakistan as the price of sugar in India is much lower than the rest of the world. ۔
Hamad Azhar said that approval has been given to import 500,000 metric tonnes of sugar from India.
He said that the demand for cotton in Pakistan is very high so it has been decided to import cotton from India. There is no problem for big economies and they also import cotton at higher prices and Pakistan also imports cotton every year. It imports millions of tonnes of cotton from around the world but this time it has been decided to export cotton from India due to lower prices there. The import of cotton from India will start at the end of June.
The Finance Minister said that governments and nations do not move forward without making big decisions, it is not always right to make popular decisions, sometimes difficult decisions have to be made.
“Our currency is on its feet today, our currency is on its feet, it’s not like we’re throwing dollars into it,” he said.
Finance Minister Hamad Azhar said that we are also aware of the challenges of the economy and are making better decisions for the benefit of Pakistan and the people, we are in talks with the IMF and a grant of 500 500 million has been made.
Asked about Sukuk and Eurobonds, Hamad Azhar said, “We have got higher prices for Eurobonds than other countries. We had issued a bond of two and a half billion dollars. It was successful. In return for two and a half billion dollars, five Billions of dollars came. Sukuk will also issue bonds but cannot give a date yet.
Asked about the removal of Hafeez Sheikh from the Finance Ministry, Hamad Azhar said that there is no doubt about Hafeez Sheikh’s performance and his intentions but it is up to the Prime Minister to decide where to keep him. Responsibilities were given to the Ministry of Finance.
He said that he would continue to seek guidance from Hafeez Sheikh and Asad Umar and would try to rectify the shortcomings.
