THE Finance Ministry has ruled out the possibility of declaring financial emergency in the country and said that the creation and spread of such false messages are against the national interest in these times of economic hardship.
Referring to a false message about supposed economic emergency proposals circulating on social media, the ministry, in a statement on Tuesday said the message is unfortunately aimed at creating uncertainty about the economic situation in the country and can only be spread by those who do not want to see Pakistan prosper.
It also referred to the exogenous factors behind the present difficult economic situation in the country.
It should be a matter of serious concern that at a time when the country is struggling to tackle the economic and financial challenges, some elements are deliberately trying to indulge in acts or engage in a propaganda campaign to undermine national efforts at economic stabilization.
It is time when the government and the opposition should join hands to steer the country forward successfully as whoever returns to power after the next general election would be the beneficiary of this success.
However, it has been observed that attempts were made to create obstacles in the way of resumption of IMF programme, the country is repeatedly being equated with Sri Lanka, the spectre of default is unnecessarily raised and now rumours are being spread about imposition of financial emergency apparently to send a wrong message to investors and donors at a time when the country needs massive investment and assistance in the backdrop of heavy losses caused by floods and rains.
Those indulging in such propaganda cannot be considered as well wishers of the country.
Instead of compounding the woes of the country, it is the responsibility of each and every citizen to contribute his or her share towards the noble cause of economic stabilization.
It is also the national responsibility of politicians, political parties, analysts, experts and scholars to share their thoughts and proposals that could help achieve this objective.
In the meantime, the Government also needs to work hard to deliver on its pledges by creating a favourable environment for investors.
This assumes urgency in the backdrop of reports that some companies are winding up their businesses or selling their assets in Pakistan finding it difficult to survive the unprecedented increase in the cost of doing business mainly because of nose-dive in the value of rupee.
