PTI blames govt for sharp decline in purchasing power of Pakistanis

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram on Sunday excoriated the government for alleged incompetence and poor governance, claiming it has reduced the average Pakistani’s purchasing power by 58 per cent since the PTI’s ouster.

He lamented in a statement that the economic condition of ordinary Pakistanis has never been as dismal and alarming as it has been over the past three years, and accused the government of dragging the economy from a robust growth rate of over six per cent to a negative trajectory.

Sheikh Waqas said that contrary to rulers’ claims to have saved the country from bankruptcy, they have allegedly plunged the nation into the worst debt trap.

He highlighted that an individual who was earning Rs 50,000 per month in March 2022 now has purchasing power reduced to just Rs 20,833, while someone earning Rs 100,000 then is now effectively left with Rs 41,666.

The PTI spokesman said that over 18 million Pakistanis are “officially unemployed”, with the jobless rate soaring to an unprecedented 22 per cent. Sheikh Waqas said the “PDM-I, PDM-II (caretaker setup), and PDM-III” governments collectively presided over the most catastrophic period in Pakistan’s recent history.

He warned that with oil prices rising from $64 to $75 per barrel, the current account and trade deficits would inevitably balloon. Moreover, he added that rupee would face further depreciation while interest payments would surge, rendering the budget “effectively dead on arrival”.

The PTI spokesman blasted the government for setting an “unrealistic revenue target”, stating that the new target of Rs 14,131 billion was once again unattainable and would further burden the people of Pakistan, especially at a time when the economy is contracting and showing no signs of forward momentum.

He dismissed the regime’s oft-repeated claim of pulling the country out of the IMF dependence as “false and wishful thinking”, pointing out that the IMF itself, in its May 2025 report, had categorically stated that Pakistan would need to enter another programme.

He highlighted that both the IMF and the World Bank, in their May 2025 reports, stated that Pakistan’s economy was shrinking, unemployment was rising, and there was virtually no economic growth.

He said that Pakistan’s economic survival currently depended on IMF support.

“If you withdraw IMF support, Pakistan will collapse,” Waqas added.

The PTI spokesman noted that gravity of the situation could be judged from the fact that the much-touted SIFC brought a meagre amount of one billion dollar in investment to the country so far and that too from Barrick Gold, “which speaks volume of its incompetence and ineffectiveness”.

Sheikh Waqas stated that the only way to pull the country out of the prevailing, unprecedented hardships is through the release of PTI Patron-in-Chief Imran Khan, the conduct of free and fair elections, upholding the rule of law, strengthening an independent judiciary, ensuring freedom of speech, restoring genuine democracy, and adhering to the Constitution.