Govt painting a rosy picture of ‘bleak economy’: PTI

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership Wednesday rejected the government’s claim on the state of economy as false and painted a bleak picture.

Speaking at a news conference here, Opposition Leader in the National Assembly and PTI senior leader Omar Ayub charged that “wheat cultivation and production faces a crisis, the economy has completely stalled, the industries are completely closed, and agriculture is going through the most difficult time.”

Secretary General Salman Akram Raja and Leader of Opposition in the Senate Syed Shibli Faraz accompanied him. Omar said the government’s claim of economic stability was false. He said Shehbaz Sharif claimed that the economy had stabilised but ‘where is it that we do not see’.

The opposition leader said the economy had shrunk and was going through the worst conditions due to the depreciation of the rupee. He said an additional debt of Rs120 billion had been incurred, whereas loans of Rs2,930 billion had been rescheduled.

“When this debt has to be paid, Pakistanis will have to pay the price. Out of the development budget of Rs1400 billion, only Rs92 billion has been spent. There are three months left and only eight percent of the development budget has been spent,” he emphasised.

He pointed out that at present the IT and telecom sectors were lagging far behind, and services were not available.

Speaking on the occasion, Senator Shibli Faraz said the PPP and PMLN had mortgaged Pakistan’s economy. “They are selling the institutions in which the losses are less. Where their interests are damaged, they legislate on it. There is no rule of law in the country, no one invests without the rule of law; there should also be peace and order for investment.”

Salman Akram Raja said the state was being destroyed brick by brick, on moral, legal and constitutional levels. “It is not necessary that you go and stand in front of bullets. The country’s politics is not a guerrilla warfare. The bullets that were fired in Islamabad on November 26 were completely unexpected,” he noted.

However, he resolved that they will protest, hold rallies but will not do anything on anyone’s orders or on anyone’s whim. He explained that they will formulate a plan of action, move forward with insight and planning. The party’s secretary general said if they choose a path other than the Constitution, law and democratic rights, then they will be in jail or in the mortuary.

Replying to a question, Salman said it was a message from Imran Khan that history would never forgive the democratic forces, including JUIF, if they failed to align with the PTI, which was waging a fight for the Constitution and fundamental rights of Pakistanis.

Separately, PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram vehemently denounced the terrorist attack on Bannu cantonment. In a statement, he expressed deep sorrow over the tragic incident and lambasted the ‘illegitimate’ government for reversing the PTI-led government’s hard-won peace in the country.

Waqas also lambasted Shehbaz Sharif for boasting about his government’s so-called achievements over the past year. He challenged the prime minister to present the death toll caused by terrorist attacks in just last two months, which would expose the true performance of his government.

Waqas called on the state institutions to prioritize the security situation and heed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s request to send a Jirga to Afghanistan to find a lasting and durable solution to the menace of terrorism.