Observer Report
Islamabad
The senior opposition leaders from the Pakistan People’s Party, Pakistan Muslim Leagu-N and the JUI-F have described the federall budget as a ‘people’s enemy’ budget.
Reacting to the budget, PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif predicted that inflation and unemployment would surge as a result of it. “The government first tried to hide behind the PML-N for its failures and now it is doing the same with the coronavirus,” he said, adding that the country had witnessed historical setbacks in terms of inflation, unemployment, and business during the incumbent government’s tenure.
“This isn’t a budget, but a path to destruction,” said Shahbaz, adding: “Unfortunately, the nation is paying for this government’s incompetence.”
Sherry Rehman blamed the government for issuing the budget without any input from the opposition. “For the first time in the history, the demand for a grant was not provided to the lawmakers — meaning the actual budget was not shared [with the opposition],” she said.
Jamiat Ulema-E-Islam’s (Fazl) Maulana Asad Mehmood, reacting to the budget speech by federal minister Hammad Azhar, said the government had failed to achieve its targets. “This government has plunged the GDP to 0.4%,” he said, adding: “There is a deficit of about Rs900 billion in taxes that were to be collected.”
The JUI-F leader claimed that opposition lawmakers were not provided with copies of the budget. “The government presented three budgets in a year and imposed new taxes on the masses,” he added.
