AT a time when the country is faced with serious economic crisis with the catastrophic flooding making it more complex and complicated, the reins of the Finance Ministry has been given by the coalition government to Ishaq Dar who is well known as an economic wizard and the man of economic crisis.
On many a times, he has proved true to these lexemes. Already ever since his arrival back home, the market has shown positive trend with stock market going up whilst rupee also gaining some strength.
This is yet to be seen as to how these sentiments stay in the days and weeks ahead but this is a fact whether somebody agrees with it or not that Dar has demonstrated his skills and competence in his field in the past also and pulled the country out of economic morass on many occasions.
His contribution has also been acknowledged by the relevant world bodies and the independent observers.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Dar once again showed his understanding to the issues faced by the country when he gave a clear warning to hundi and hawala businesses, regretting that the rupee’s value has been kept low artificially, adding that such practices cannot hold the local currency hostage.
The very statement of Ishaq Dar reflects that the rupee is going to appreciate further which indeed will have a positive impact on the economy and also go a long way in bringing down the prices of essential commodities.
Appreciation of rupee will also help the government pass on relief to the consumers of the reduction in petroleum products’ prices in the international market.
The return of Dar has raised expectations that the country will again be put on the right course. However, the challenges are immense this time.
Apart from economic crisis, the country is also faced with an unprecedented calamity in the form of floods.
Hence, this will be a big test of Dar as to how he takes the matters towards improvement with his economic acumen.
Also, it will be unfair not to acknowledge the hard work put in by former Finance Minister Miftah Ismail to save the country from default and given his expertise and knowledge, he needs to be part of the Federal Cabinet.