Terms economy in a shatters: says fiscal deficit hits Rs6.4tn
ISLAMABAD
The economic team of newly formed federal government of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) has flayed the economic policy of the the PTI government, saying the relief package of Rs370 billion and piling up of public debt have shattered economy.
Addressing a press conference along with other PML-N leaders Musaddiq Malik and Muhammad Zubair, Miftah Ismail said that PTI government had made people to suffer by taking the economy to this bad condition.
Miftah, who is expected to become the advisor to prime minister on finance, lamented that the country’s economy was badly damaged during the tenure of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) which had piled the fiscal deficit to the level of Rs6,400 billion.
He said the fiscal deficit is hovering at around Rs5,600 billion and if supplementary grants of Rs800 billion are included, the total amount would reach Rs6,400 billion. The PML-N leader elaborated how the illogical decisions by the previous government resulted in increasing overall debt. He, however, expressed the hope that the future of Pakistan is brighter under the leadership of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. He said all possible efforts would be made to contain the deficit, adding that it is their responsibility to lead the country towards a better future.
Ismail criticised the PTI government over providing a relief package of Rs370 billion under which the former prime minister Imran Khan had announced to reduce the petroleum prices by Rs10 per litre and electricity by Rs5 per unit.
To a question, he said the government has not decided yet to increase the petroleum prices but the decision would be taken after reviewing the summary issued by Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA).
This is a landmine that the PTI government had laid for the upcoming government, he said, adding that the amnesty scheme was also needless as it was against the conditions agreed to by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
When asked whether the current government would take measures to reduce the inflation rate in the country, Miftah pointed out that the government could not control the inflation immediately due to bad policies of the previous government. “First we will negotiate with the IMF to convince them to ease out the tough conditions so that the government could provide relief to the masses,” he added. He said Pakistan’s imports have also reached record high levels due to which the country’s current account deficit is expected to reach near the $20 billion mark by end of current fiscal year. He said in the last month alone, the country’s foreign exchange reserves declined by around $5 billion.
He expressed satisfaction over the announcement of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for increasing minimum wages to Rs25,000, a jump of 20 percent .He said the measure would provide relief to the people caught in the inflationary pressure.
He said that by enhancing the pay by 10 percent of those having less than Rs100,000 monthly salary would also help people get relief. He asked the private companies including the media houses to increase the salaries of their employees by 10%.
He said that an increase of 10 percent in the pensions would help reduce the burden on old pensioners and it would have a fiscal impact of Rs 13 billion in the next three months of the current fiscal year.
He said that as soon as the new government takes over, the economy has started showing positive vibes as was indicated by the Pakistan Stock Exchange which witnessed the highest single day increase in trade of shares as the index jumped by 1,700 points the previous day. Likewise, the index continued with a bullish trend and witnessed further increase of over 262 points. He said the rupee also strengthened against the US dollar, the price of which declined from Rs190 to Rs182 on Tuesday.
