Dar seeks commission to probe ‘economic decline’ under PTI
Presenting the IMF-dictated Finance (Supplementary) Bill, 2023, generally known as the mini-budget, in both houses of the parliament, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday called for setting up a national commission to investigate the factors behind the “economic decline” in the country over the past four years, and reiterated his offer to political parties to prepare a national economic agenda. During a 35-minute-long speech at the thinly-attended National Assembly session, a grim-faced finance minister blamed the previous PTI administration for the country’s economic woes, but said the present government was committed to implementing the agreement signed by the previous rulers with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), stating that “an agreement with the IMF is an agreement with the state and not with a government”. Later, the finance minister also laid the finance bill before the Senate. Both the houses were then adjourned till Friday, when the government plans to get the bill passed through the National Assembly. Under the Constitution, a money bill is not required to be passed by the Senate, which can only give its recommendations, which are not binding on the lower house of parliament.