ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) on Sunday criticised the government for creating a market support fund that it alleges will only help billionaire brokers.
“The government has been claiming scarcity of resources and getting ready to announce a tough budget loaded with taxes worth trillions but it has ample resources when it comes to helping billionaires,” said PEW President Dr. Murtaza Mughal.
“The newly established market support fund is, in fact, a broker support fund for which Rs20 billion have been earmarked while the process of approvals has been completed with unprecedented speed.”
He said that many rules and regulations were relaxed while the stock market regulator was kept out of the whole process which has raised questions about the whole matter.
The government which continues to claim insufficiency of funds should have preferred to bailout poor reeling under inflation but instead it decided to bail out influential brokers, he added.
Dr. Murtaza Mughal said that the cash-strapped government which has inherited a broken economy must carefully utilize its scarce public resources and spend them in the public interest.
Commenting on the recent hike in petroleum prices he said that the price of oil is going down in the international market but it is being increased in Pakistan which is unjustified.
Why does this magazine keep giving a platform to this dubious individual and self proclaimed president of Pakistan Economy Watch? In which subject has he done a doctorate.