Nation stuck in price hike, foreign loans: PM

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday said the people were stuck in the quagmire of price hike and foreign loans because the former rulers had acquired $60 billion foreign loans during their tenures in the last 10 years and stashed it in their foreign accounts.

He expressed these views during a meeting with Information and Broadcasting Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, who called on him here. Imran said had former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf not given NRO to the Sharif family and the Hudaibiya case been decided on merit, the unlawful practice of money laundering would have died a death.

He contended that unfortunately the Hudaibiya case was used as a model in all the cases, which surfaced with regard to money laundering in which wealth was sent abroad through front men and then brought back to Pakistan. He said through this unlawful practice, money was sent abroad through front men and then brought back.

He said Nawaz Sharif and Zardari had whitened their money through these tactics. Imran directed the information minister to share all these details with the masses through the media so as to expose the real faces of those misleading the public.

He said the masses should be sensitized to the negative effects of these machinations on the national economy. Owing to these machinations, people today are trapped in the quagmire of inflation and loans, he added.

The prime minister called for holding all those accountable who had acquired $60 billion during the last 10 years, as this money had gone to their personal coffers. Imran pointed out that the incumbent government had framed Benami laws and thrashed out rules which would greatly help in curbing money laundering and the trend of keeping properties in the name of others.