Shabbar Zaidi, former chief of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has said that his speech, in which he said that Pakistan was bankrupt, was misreported.

"My speech in Hamdard University is being misreported. There was a presentation of half & hour. Only three minutes have been cherry picked," he said on Twitter.

Elaborating on his comment about the country going bankrupt, Zaidi explained he had said it, but only in the context of the constant current and fiscal account deficit, adding that he also provided solutions to the problem.

The former FBR chairman also urged people to listen to the whole speech, in which he tried to explain issues with the ‘basis and conviction’.

His statement comes after a video clip of his speech on Pakistan's economy was shared on social media.

"We keep saying that everything is good, the country is running well, we have achieved great success and we brought change but this is wrong. In my view, the country is, at the moment, bankrupt and not a going concern," Zaidi had said in his speech a day earlier at Hamdard University.

Zaidi used an accounting phrase "going concern" which Merriam Webster describes as a business that is making a profit.

"You will have to remodel your local debt and think whether assets of the federal government such as land can be used for repaying that debt. If we continue repaying this debt then our economy won't have the space to launch any public welfare programme," he said.

Zaidi in another tweet later on Thursday said that it was better to recognise the reality then live in illusions.

"We need to have a reality check," he added.

Zaidi served as the director of the Federal Board of Revenue between 2019 and 2020.