Government tries to assuage fears about economy amid looming doubts.

ISLAMABAD -- State Minister for Finance and Revenue, Dr Aisha Ghaus Pasha on Thursday once again ruled out the possibility of Pakistan's default, reiterating that the government is aware of the current situation and working vigorously to improve it. 'This is an extraordinary situation and the country is facing severe crisis and it is primarily owing to the global inflation which can be seen worldwide,' the state minister said while briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue. Moreover, keeping in view the current scenario, the government has prioritised few industries for issuance of LCs which includes pharmaceutical sector, agriculture sector and the industries which are involved in manufacturing of basic necessities items, she added. She maintained that country would have to control the unnecessary imports to reduce the pressure on its foreign exchange reserves. The country's oil import bill is still on the higher side, which stood at 33 percent of the overall imports. She said that the government is working to deal with the situation including revival of International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme. She further said that the government would also receive funding from other partners. The government would have to take difficult decisions for revival of the IMF programme and every sector would have to share the burden of the difficult decisions. She informed that the government have addressed most of the concerns of the IMF. Meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue was held here at Parliament House on Thursday with Senator Saleem Mandviwalla in chair. The Senate body deliberated on refusal of LCs to pharmaceutical industry. Malik Arshad, President Pharmaceutical Association informed the committee that pharmaceutical industry is worth approximately $ 6 billion, and its reliance on import is around 93 pc but several national banks have refused issuance of LCs to industry. Senator Mohsin Aziz said that difference of dollar value between open market and State Bank is major reason behind the decline of remittances' inflow and smuggling of dollars on the other hand. Senator Saleem Mandviwalla opined that government has not refused issuance of LCs to pharmaceutical industry. He directed the Pharmaceutical Association president to provide details of all delayed LCs to the committee so that they could be processed on priority. Discussing the current status of Exim Bank, Exim Bank CEO informed that bank could...