ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan has said that the Pakistan Economic Survey for Financial Year 2021-22 released on Thursday vindicated his party’s stance that the country’s economy was growing during the PTI’s rule. “Pakistan had been prospering rapidly during the last two years. Lifting the downtrodden segment of the society was the main focus of my government and we successfully reduced employment,” he said in a video address on Thursday.
While commenting on the press conference of the government’s economic team, Imran insisted they were highlighting the economic achievements of his government.
The survey was revealed by Finance Minister Miftah Ismail alongside Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, State Minister for Finance Ayesha Ghous Pasha and Power Minister Khurram Dastgir during a press conference in Islamabad.
As per the survey, the economic growth of Pakistan was recorded at 5.97% as opposed to the target of 4.8%.
Similarly, the agriculture sector posted a growth of 4.40% against a target of 3.5%; industries posted growth of 7.19% against the target of 6.5%, services industry 6.19%; and services industries recorded 6.19% growth against their target of 4.7%.
During the presser, Miftah said the economy was on the road to stability. He added that the government would ensure sustainable growth in order to reduce the current account deficit.
In the address, Imran said Pakistan was one of the cheapest countries during his rule and they did not increase the prices of fuel and electricity despite International Monetary Fund (IMF) pressure.
“The rate of global inflation was also high during out time but they would blame use for the increase in inflation,” he said adding that the incumbent government could not sustain IMF pressure and increased the prices of electricity and fuel by many times.
“If they were unable to handle the crisis then why did they come into power…they don’t have a stake in Pakistan their only agenda is to get relief in corruption cases,” the former premier lamented.
Imran Khan, the ousted premier, also expressed fear over the sudden increase in the prices of fuel, energy and other commodities, saying that country could default under the incumbent rulers.
“Instead of curbing inflation, they hiked the prices of petroleum products by Rs60 per litre, gas 45%, electricity Rs8 per unit and they would blame us for inflation. I had never witnessed such sharp increase in prices by any government in a short period of time.”
The PTI chief said international rating agency Moody’s downgraded Pakistan’s outlook from stable to negative which would likely create difficulties in securing foreign loans.
“The price of cement has also increased which would affect the construction industry that provides employment to a large number of people.”
Speaking about amendments to NAB and electoral laws, Imran said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has virtually abolished the institutions of accountability to get relief in corruption cases.
“Now, they are preparing to rig the next elections with the help of the Election commission of Pakistan. They deprived overseas Pakistanis of their voting rights,” he remarked.
The ex-premier also said the current legislation pertaining to the NAB bill is a “trial” for Pakistan’s judiciary as it violated the spirit of the Constitution.
He also reiterated to stage the long march against the “imported government”, saying that after getting “clearance” from the Supreme Court on the matter of staging the protest he will announce the date of protest rally. –Agencies
