ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif on Friday said that the dollar wasn’t even raised by 10 paisas without permission during his tenure in office.
While talking to the journalists outside the Supreme Court (SC), the PML-N leader said, “There was a balance between the dollar and rupee during my time. The world called our economy strong and balanced from 2013 to 2017.”
Criticising the PTI government for blaming the PML-N government for Pakistan’s economic woes, Nawaz said, “If they say we used artificial means to stabilise the dollar, then they can do it too.”
“What is the artificial way to maintain the price of the dollar?” he further questioned. “Were there ever such long queues at CNG stations?”
While responding to questions about National Assembly Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif’s imprisonment, Nawaz said, “For what crime has Shehbaz been imprisoned? Someone should ask how accountability is being done. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) should remain the way it is right now if we are suffering then others should too.”
“NAB should also probe into Imran Khan’s helicopter and his family’s assets. Record of our family’s source of income from 1937 is available,” he said.
He further said, “We are asked time and again why we went out of the country after 1999. Pervez Musharraf exiled us; we did not go on our own,” adding that “Shehbaz fought election for the first time from Karachi and only lost by 500 votes to Faisal Vawda and we all know how he won”.
Earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan while speaking about the current hike in the value of dollar revealed that the SBP did not ask the government before devaluing the rupee.
“I found out about the dollar hike through TV,” he had said.
The rupee suffered a sharp devaluation in the interbank market last week, dropping to its lowest value ever against the US dollar at Rs144 before the State Bank intervened to raise its level to Rs136.5-137.5,
“Earlier as well when the price of dollar touched a record-high against the rupee, I was not informed beforehand. The central bank had devalued the currency and it’s an institution which overlooks these matters,” he added.