Govt’s motto is ‘loot and run’: Shehbaz

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) PMLN President and opposition leader in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif said that present government’s motto is: “Indulge in loot then run away.”He lamented the government's plan to unleash another tsunami of inflation from December saying the government has pledged Pakistan’s economic sovereignty on the IMF conditions, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Shehbaz deplored the government plan to increase prices of commodities in next month saying the government had ruined country’s economy and made the poor, paupers.

He lamented that the government was imposing taxes on everything including medicine, food, electricity and gas. Jobs and livelihood are vanishing, while the taxes are increasing in this ‘New Pakistan’, he added.

“There is no gas and electricity in the country and prices of flour, sugar, ghee and other things are on the rise. But our debt is still mounting despite increase in prices and taxes,” he censured the government.

He said the government had pledged Pakistan’s economic sovereignty while following the IMF conditions. He regretted that the country’s debt had reached the historic high but neither the people got anything nor did any improvement visible in country’s condition. In a period between July-October, the foreign borrowing rose by a staggering 18%. The government took $580 million worth more loans as compared to the last year.

He was of the view if the government could not obtain loans from the State Bank of Pakistan, then it would be in the dire situation. It is pertinent to mention here that the government has passed a new legislation giving autonomy to the central bank on the directions of the IMF.

Shehbaz bemoaned that though the present government would go but it would entangle Pakistan in such a bad economic morass that it would become difficult for the country to come out of it.