Asad Umar, a senior leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), expressed surprise at the claims made by former Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) chief Shabbar Zaidi, who said that the country’s economy would have collapsed if the PTI-led government had completed its tenure.
Shabbar Zaidi was appointed by the PTI-led government to lead the top tax collection body in 2019, but he was removed from the post in April 2020 due to health reasons. Zaidi recently stated that if the PTI government had continued, the party would not have even secured 5% votes as the country’s economy would have collapsed.
In response to Zaidi’s claims, Asad Umar questioned the validity of the story, rhetorically asking where it came from. He reminded that the PTI government came into power in August 2018, and at the end of their rule, the foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) stood at $9.8 billion. He further pointed out that the SBP’s reserves were $8.7 billion when he left the finance ministry in April 2019, which questions the narrative of an impending economic collapse.
Asad Umar also highlighted that under the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led government, the central bank’s forex reserves plunged to less than $3 billion, yet the country did not default on debt repayments. He emphasized that with reserves of $8.7 billion during his time as finance minister, it was not possible for the country to default.