Oct 14, 2021: Federal Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin said on Thursday that the government had no immediate plans to increase electricity rates.

In an interview with the US think tank, the US Institute of Peace, in Washington, the finance minister said the government would take steps to curb inflation in the country before raising electricity prices.

He added that the government of Pakistan was in touch with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the issue. Shaukat Tarin said he was bringing reforms to strengthen the country’s economy. Steps are being taken to privatize some of the loss-making state-owned enterprises to reduce the fiscal deficit, he said.

He said that the government has put the country’s economy on the right track and expressed hope that Pakistan’s growth rate would exceed 5%.

Tarin added that the country would soon receive the sixth installment of the IMF. The Finance Minister said that he wanted friendly relations with both China and the United States, adding that good Pak-China relations should not have any effect on Pak-US relations. He added that Pak-US relations should be viewed from an economic point of view rather than just security.

The Minister said that Pakistan wanted friendly relations with all the neighboring countries including India. He further said that Kashmir is the bone of contention between Islamabad and New Delhi.

Talking about Afghanistan, Shaukat Tarin said that the Taliban government in Afghanistan is a reality and Washington must understand that the Taliban need humanitarian assistance. If the world leaves Afghanistan, it could be affected by the expected anarchy, he said, adding that Pakistan would be the most affected country in that situation.