PTI chief laments absence of long-term planning to overcome economic challenges
ISLAMABAD
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan lamented that there had never been long-term planning to lift the country’s economy or to protect its environment.
He was addressing a seminar pertaining to Pakistan’s economy in Islamabad on Tuesday. He said he learned about the economy of Pakistan during his 3.5 rule. The ex-PM recalled how overseas Pakistanis helped him built welfare projects like Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital.
Taking a jibe at the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), he said that the commission must have seen ‘foreign funding’ during a telethon for fundraising for flood victims on Monday.
Imran Khan said that if they get in power again, they would come prepared as ‘out of the box’ thinking was required to run Pakistan’s economy now. PTI chairman said they have decided to form an economic team to assess how to run the economy as it would help the government in coping with challenges.
Censuring the coalition government in the center, he said that during their four months in power; they have devastated Pakistan’s economy and put the country on backtrack. There had never been long-term planning to lift economy or to conserve water or protect the environment.
Even during the Covid-19 pandemic; the then-opposition pushed them to impose lockdown without caring about the poor, he said. Imran Khan iterated that the steps taken by the incumbent government during its brief tenure nowhere features the poor.
The challenges are big now, and it would be required to take big steps to pull the country out of the economic crisis it is mired in currently. He talked about engagement of overseas Pakistanis for achieving the goal.
