Siraj regrets PTI govt piled up Rs13tr loans in its three-year rule

LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Sirajul Haq has regretted that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has piled up over Rs13 trillion loans in its three-year rule.

He recalled that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) governments had taken loans of Rs10.6 trillion and Rs6.5 trillion during their five-year tenures, respectively.

“The gross public debt has touched an alarming 81.4 per cent of the GDP. The poor nation, which is deprived of basic facilities, is seeking answers where the rulers have spent that huge money,” he said while talking to the party delegations at Mansoora on Tuesday.

The economic situation, he said, was deteriorating with every passing day and there was no hope of improvement if the current policies remained in place. Inflation and unemployment, he said, had become the trademarks of the PTI government. The IMF, he added, had virtually taken control of the economy. Millions of educated youth were jobless and over 25 million children were out of schools due to poverty. The skyrocketing inflation, he said, had turned the life of a common man miserable. The two per cent elite, he said, had been capturing the resources of the country for decades and they had nothing to do with the public welfare.

“The country needs real change and a system which holds the capacity to address the woes of the public.” Sirajul Haq said. He regretted that the PTI claims of bringing about reforms in the police culture, education and health sectors had proved wrong. He said it was a reality that the three political parties, which ruled the country over years, had been exposed badly.

Addressing the meeting, JI naib ameer and former parliamentary leader in National Assembly Liaqat Baloch said the elections in Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir made it clear that the opposition coalition of traditional parties and the state powers were not ready to give people a transparent and fair election. Prime Minister Imran Khan had failed at every front, but still he managed to win polls, he added. A consensus policy on Kashmir, Afghanistan and Palestine was the need of the hour, he added.