Former finance minister Shaukat Tarin said that that the agreement with International Monetary Fund (IMF) would not serve the interest of the public, as the incumbent government has laid down before the financial body and accepted its harsh conditions which were categorically refused by PTI government.
Speaking at a press conference here on Thursday, he said that the PTI-led government took a bold step and rejected the IMF’s conditions of raising prices of electricity and petroleum products instead our plan was to cover the capital by increasing the tax base.
He further said that former prime minister Imran khan went to Pakistan’s friends and the IMF to rescue the country from economic mess left by the previous government and successfully put the country on path of economic growth.
The former finance minister stated that the economic team of the present regime released the statistics of PTI government, clearly indicating that the economy was strengthening, which they earlier refused to accept the reality.
He noted that PTI’s policies in the past two years enabled higher growth for two consecutive years and in the current year, the country posted 4.4 percent growth in the agriculture sector and 7 percent in the industrial sector.
However, he expressed surprise that when everything was running smooth and the country’s economy was stabilizing, dislodging PTI government was beyond comprehension.
Shaukat Tarin said that India and China were procuring cheap oil from Russia but the imported rulers were giving lame excuses to avoid the deal.
He said that during PTI regime, farmers were getting money and they became prosperous, besides the growth of industry made the workers prosperous. Shaukat Tarin said that at that time Pakistan’s exports went up to $32 billion which was never more than $25 or $24 billion.
Expressing concern, Shaukat Tarin said that the imported government dropped petrol and diesel bombs on the people as soon as they took the reign, increasing the price of electricity and petrol.
“We were asked by the IMF to increase the price of electricity by Rs4.95 but we did not agree. The imported government is lying in front of the IMF,” he said.
Shaukat Tarin said that the price of gas has been increased by 45%, the bills of the lowest slab users of 100 units will increase by 75%, the prices of ghee and flour have increased sharply and flour is also rare at utility stores. He said that downgrading of Pakistani banks would also affect the economy, inflation could reach 25 to 30 percent in the country and the economic crisis could stop the wheel of the country’s industries, besides rendering thousands of workers jobless.
He warned that the incumbent government’s worst economic policy would reduce the growth rate, as at present there was worst load shedding in the country.
