Talking to media in Washington, he said it has been decided in principle to start IMF mission and the decision has been taken in the best interest of national economy.

He said IMF program will bring improvement in the economy. He said IMF delegation will visit Pakistan in coming weeks to finalize technical details.

Replying to a question, Asad Umar said trade activities in the region will improve living standard of the people. He said Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed his desire to improve relations with India in his first speech and offered to enhance trade relations.

He said gas agreement with Turkmenistan has been signed while Free Trade Agreement with Turkey will be concluded soon.

He said Pakistan has been facing a crisis of balance of payments for a long time and we went to the IMF due to some previous wrong decisions. He said PPP and PML-N governments also sought IMF programs.