Pakistan would have defaulted without loans from friendly countries: PM

July 01, 2019 (MLN): Prime Minister Imran Khan said Pakistan might have defaulted on its international obligations had friendly countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE, China, and Qatar not come forward to help us.

Prime Minister said PTI government has paid back 10 billion dollars on debt servicing on loans taken by the previous governments.

In an interview to a private TV Channel, he said that his government is focusing on controlling current account deficit and money laundering to relieve pressure from the rupee.

He said “we inherited record current account deficit of over 19 billion dollars, which increased pressure on rupee.”

The Prime Minister said that 7 billion dollars were wrongly spent for artificial stability of value of rupee by the previous government.

Prime Minister also accused the previous government of taking commercial loans of 14 billion dollars on high interest rate.

The Prime Minister said money laundering of 10 billion dollars takes place in Pakistan every year, which needed a special focus.

He said a comprehensive plan is being evolved to control smuggling and money laundering for which new legislation will be brought in.

He also urged common Pakistani citizens to take advantage of the Asset Declaration Scheme expiring on Wednesday to avoid confiscation of their undeclared assets. He made it clear that deadline for amnesty scheme will not be extended.