Pakistan Finance Minister and Revenue Senator Ishaq Dar on Friday castigated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan for propagating "fake news" about the country's possible default, local media reported.
In a press conference in Islamabad, Dar, who was sworn in as the finance czar in September last year, blamed the previous PTI government for pushing the nation of 220 million people to the brink of default; claiming that it was the coalition government that saved the country by prioritizing the state over their politics, The News reported.
He recalled that when the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) ousted Khan through a no-confidence motion in April, the coalition government's leaders had decided to keep aside all political interests in the state's interest, The News reported.
"My presser today will be a reality check for Imran Khan," Dar said angrily as the PTI leaders have been calling him out since the rupee plunged to a historic low of 285.09 a day earlier, while February's inflation hit nearly a 50-year high of 31.5 percent.
A day earlier, the deposed prime minister took to Twitter to censure the PDM-led government for "slaughtering" the rupee bringing back his "regime change conspiracy" narrative imposed on Pakistanis by former army chief General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa, Geo News reported.
"Rupee slaughtered, lost over 62% or 110/$ in 11 months of PDM. This has increased public debt alone Rs 14.3 [trillion and] historic 75 [year] high inflation 31.5%," Khan tweeted. (KB/IANS)