ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said on Thursday that the incumbent government’s economic policies have failed and that it was not being truthful to the electorate, ARY News reported.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Abbasi said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had failed to steer the country out of the current economic crisis.
“I am not criticising, rather putting the facts in front of the nation. The government needs to be truthful to the public about revenue collection and refrain from imposing new taxes on the already-burdened”, Abbasi said.
Questioning the uncertainty regarding the under-discussion International Monetary Fund (IMF) program, the PML-N leader said that it was unclear why the federal government was still in a situation of ‘ifs and buts’ over the freshly-sought bailout package from the Fund.
He said that Pakistan had received approximately $11bn from the friendly countries including Saudi Arabia, UAE and others but their utilisation was marred by obscurity. “Government should clarify where these funds were spent,” he asserted.
Holding the government responsible for the unprecedented hike in the rate of US dollar, he said the government had failed to raise the exports of the country despite the rupee devaluation.
“Have never seen such a situation in 32 years. Everyone should be concerned now that the alarm bells are ringing”, he said.
