Shahbaz says budget a ‘path to destruction

ISLAMABAD: Top opposition lawmakers have criticised the federal government’s budget, with Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif describing it as a “path to destruction” and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Sherry Rehman terming it an “enemy” of the populace.

According to Geo News, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shahbaz Sharif claimed that inflation and unemployment would surge. “The government first tried to hide behind the PML-N for its failures and now it is doing the same with the coronavirus,” he said, adding that the country had witnessed historic setbacks in terms of inflation, unemployment, and business during the incumbent government’s tenure.

“This isn’t a budget, but a path to destruction,” said Sharif, adding: “Unfortunately, the nation is paying for this government’s incompetence.” The budget announcements prove that the government is not ready to take the “path of reform and wisdom”, he said. For the first time in 68 years, the country’s GDP has become negative, he said. Speaking to Geo News, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Sherry Rehman blamed the government for unveiling a budget without any input from the opposition. “For the first time in history, the demand for a grant was not provided to the lawmakers — meaning the actual budget was not shared [with the opposition],” she said.

The PPP leader said she was informed that lawmakers would be provided a copy of the budget in a disk. She said that this was a good initiative but the files were provided to the MNAs during the session, which prompted them to hoot and protest.

Terming the budget 2020-21 “non-transparent”, she said the opposition’s input should have been sought. “I am sure they will take out a rolling budget in the next three months,” she added.

She also slammed the government for taking on “more loans” than the previous two governments had, and that too before the coronavirus provided a setback to the country’s economy. “We thought that they [government] would allocate substantial facilities for the health sector, which they did not,” she said, adding: “This is not a budget, but an accounting exercise — as they had taken recommendations from the International Monetary Fund.” This budget is an enemy of the people, she went on to add.

Jamiat Ulema-E-Islam-Fazl’s Maulana Asad Mehmood said the government had failed to achieve its targets. “This government has plunged the GDP to -0.4 per cent,” he said, adding: “There is a deficit of about Rs900 billion in taxes that were to be collected.”

The JUI-F leader claimed that opposition lawmakers were not provided with copies of the budget. “The government presented three budgets in a year and imposed new taxes on the masses,” he added.