LAHORE
Pakistan Awami Tehrik (PAT) has warned that the Punjab government in its 18-month rule has taken record foreign loans and is now under a debt of Rs 600 billion which under the present state of affairs seems unlikely to be returned by the end of its tenure, says a report prepared by PAT financial experts.
A statement from Punjab PAT president Basharat Jaspal and secretary-general Fayyaz Warraich on the report said on Monday the Punjab government had taken a fresh loan of US dollars of 500 million in the first month of 2015. They alleged that the Punjab rulers were acting against their promises and had now put every child of the province under huge burden of foreign loans. Citing reports, they said, during the past seven years, 2008 to 2013, the rulers took foreign and domestic loans worth Rs 452 billion. They said bad governance and mismanagement of Shahbaz Sharif the Punjab Food Department was under a debt of Rs 100 billion and its annual mark-up was Rs 10 billion.
They said since 2008 Punjab government has drawn Rs 700 billion more than province’s share of National Finance Commission award and despite taking this extra amount the standard of living of the people of Punjab deteriorated and continued to fall. They said during the last seven years, the education standard and literacy rate did not rise, and people were deprived of clean drinking water and basic health facilities, while the lawlessness was growing every day.