Imran invites Dar to public debate on ‘financial gains’

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Tuesday threw the challenge of a public debate to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on his claims of an economic turnaround and the metro bus project, saying Rs70 billion had been spent on it. 

Speaking to a media conference here, Imran threw a volley of questions at the PML-N leadership and expressed serious reservations over the spending of billions on the metro bus and orange train projects while 25 million kids were out of school, there were no medicines at government hospitals and no project for the provision of clean drinking water to the masses.

Imran said his team was ready for a public debate or a television debate whenever the finance minister is available. He made it clear that the masses would not tolerate Nawaz Sharif becoming a monarch or a ‘Mughal-e-Azam’. 

The PTI chief pointed out that the government had spent Rs70 billion on metro project in the twin cities while 50 percent buses were parked in the depot. 

He claimed that in two and a half years, the PML-N government had taken Rs47,000 billion loans and asked where this money was going. 

Imran asked the government to take along all political parties in execution of the multi-billion dollar CPEC project, claiming it had been made controversial by  the rulers.

Flanked by Chief Minister Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa Pervez Khattak, members of National Assembly Asad Umar and Jahangir Khan Tareen, Imran said the CPEC project must be realised, allaying apprehensions of the stake-holders, as it would be beneficial for the whole country.

Imran assailed the government’s economic polices, claiming that in its tenure the country’s exports, foreign and local investment, and tax collection ratio had decreased.

PTI chief there was increase in foreign debt, inflation and unemployment. He urged the government to invest in public welfare projects as it would eliminate poverty from the country. 

He asked for allocating more funds for health and education sectors, wherein Pakistan was lagging far behind even as compared to the regional nations.

PTI chairman urged all the political leadership to declare their assets, adding that details of all assets of PTI’s core committee members were available at its official website.

He said economic situation could not be changed without bringing reforms in Federal Bureau of Revenue.

“The musical chairs of the Sharif and Zardari government’s over the past 8 years is leading the citizens of Pakistan towards another lost decade, another generation of youth that will find no jobs in the economy and will remain deprived of basic necessities of education, health and clean drinking water,” charged Asad Umar said in his mid-term review of the government economic policies. 

He claimed, “It is a repeat of the lost decade of the 1990s – the worst decade in terms of development in Pakistan’s history. Despite the tall claims made by the  government, facts show a rapid decline in investment and exports – the key drivers of every economy. Sharp increase in cost of doing business, rampant corruption and predatory taxes on citizens are hurting the economy and leading to a sharp increase in the number of unemployed workers which has increased sharply to over 50 lakh – a net increase of over 1,500,000 in just two years”.

“New investments into the economy remains stagnant at only 15% of GDP halfway through the PML-N government – the lowest recorded for any government in our history. Investment has shockingly declined with private sector spending declining to 9.7% in Financial Year-15, even lower than 9.8% recorded in the last year of the Zardari government,” he noted.

The farmers of Pakistan, he alleged, had been caught between decline in prices of their end product, increasing input costs and stagnant yields and in the case of cotton sharply reduced output. As a result the agriculture economy of Pakistan has suffered badly and the small farmer has borne the brunt of this deterioration.

He said according to the World Bank, the cost of doing business has increased sharply in the first 2 years of the PML-N government with Pakistan’s ranking slipping to 128 (out of 189 countries) in 2015. Similarly, the World Economic Forum 2015 report shows that rampant corruption, worsening energy crisis and high cost of paying taxes is eroding the competitiveness of the industry in Pakistan.

“The government policies are  also hurting  local industry. No longer able to compete due to high costs, exports have slumped sharply by 11% in the first four months of FY16, the sharpest pace of decline in over a decade.  Exports have registered a decline in 21 out of 30 months,” he charged.

Asad said that since coming into power, the PML-N government has unleashed unprecedented predatory indirect taxes on citizens in the shape of higher GST, regulatory duties and withholding taxes on all essential goods & services. Despite the PMLN promise in the 2013 election manifesto to not raise tax rates, the first thing the government did after winning elections was to hike GST rate to 17%. Now the tax rate on diesel has been raised to 51% - all without approval from parliament.

He charged, “Instead of broadening tax base, the government has shifted the entire burden of taxes on the citizens through indirect taxes. In FY15 indirect taxes (inclusive of WHT) stood at 9.7% of GDP (88% of total tax collection ). Compare this to 8.4% of GDP in FY13 . On the other hand, direct taxes (excluding WHT) continues to decline and government refuses to tax the powerful elite and reform FBR”.

“The other major election promise of Nawaz Sharif was to break the begging bowl. Instead we have seen the government accumulate record debts at record high prices. The first thing the PML-N government did after coming into power was to sign up with  IMF . Since then the government has added over Rs 4.7 trillion in public debt in just 28 months in power. As a result every Pakistani citizen is now under a debt burden of Rs 112,000 (as of September 2015) compared to Rs 85,000 in May 2013,” he said in the review.

Asad claimed not only has PM Sharif government added record new debt , it has done so at record high prices. The dollar 500 million Eurobonds proudly launched by PM Sharif in September 2015 are priced at 8.25%), making them the most expensive borrowing done by any country in the world in 2015. In comparison Egypt raised $1.5bn at 5.9%, Sri Lanka raised dollar 650million  at 6.1%.

“The dollar 500million Eurobonds priced at 8.25% are also the most expensive debt ever raised by any Pakistani government in history. The Eurobonds issued by government in 2007 Eurobond was issued at spread of just 2% above US treasury. In comparison the Sharif government has issued Eurobonds  with spread of 6.1% over US Treasury. The citizens will repay this debt through higher taxes on essential commodities.

The biggest promise, he noted, made to citizens by  Nawaz Sharif was to resolve the energy crisis and make a ‘Roshan’ Pakistan. Instead, the power and gas shortfall have both increased to alarming levels at the mid-term of the third Sharif government.

“No progress has been made to improving governance, reducing transmission and distribution losses, bringing greater transparency in buildup of receivables.  Instead, the entire burden of power theft and inefficiencies has been transferred to the honest consumers through record increase in electricity bills,” he said.