Imran trying to hide economic failures with ‘lies’: Bilawal

KARACHI: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said on Monday Prime Minister Imran Khan was trying to cover up economic catastrophe with “persistent lies”, as marketing of chickens, eggs and buffaloes could not improve the country’s economy.

In a statement, Bilawal said Khan’s government used the old census data to depict higher per capita income, adding: “As long as there are experiments like Imran Khan in the country Pakistan cannot make progress”.

Reminding the Prime Minister of his promises, the PPP leader recalled Khan had claimed to fix the national economy in 90 days but today it was 1011th day and still there was no economic recovery.

Bilawal said Khan failed to fulfill any of the promises he made with the people, adding: “An increase of 53 per cent in the import bill of food commodities in an agricultural country is a slap on the economic performance of the government”.He went on to say that a false impression of Khan’s honesty was created but the truth was that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf elites were robbing the country with both hands.

Reacting to Bilawal’s statement, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Communication Dr Shahbaz Gill said on Monday the “incompetent and corrupt provincial government of mafia” had ruined Sindh province.

“Instead of serving the people, the job of the corrupt and incompetent provincial ministers is to deliver money to Bilawal House,” he said in a statementGill said the stability and growth on the economic front and the performance of the federal government were an issue for the PPP chairman.

The PM’s aide highlighted the performance of federal government, claiming $20 billion current account deficit had been converted into $959 million surplus, while the trade volume of Pakistan Stock Exchange was also at record four-year high. Similarly, he added, the tax revenue had witnessed 6 per cent increase and remittances by 24 per cent in the last seven months.

He asked Bilawal to get out of federal government phobia and have mercy on the people of Sindh. “There are daily reports of deaths of children from Sindh due to hunger and disease, but unfortunately the rulers of Sindh are in deep slumber and are not paying any heed to the issues of the people and development of the province,” Gill said.