Says PTI govt provided subsidy of Rs 557b during its tenure
Former finance minister and PTI leader Shaukat Tarin has lashed out at government for bringing five mini-budgets and unleashing a storm of inflation in the country while stating that the economy is not out of woods as the country is still facing a threat of default. Tarin was addressing a presser along with former energy minister Hammad Azhar in Lahore on Tuesday.
Hitting out at the government over its economic claims, the PTI leader said that all economic indicators were suggesting that country’s economy was in a shambles. Spelling out the stats of economic pointers, Tarin rejected the government’s claim that the previous PTI regime was responsible for the downfall of the economy. He said the PTI government provided a subsidy of Rs557 billion during its tenure while the current government was providing a subsidy of Rs954 billion.
The former finance minister took the government to task on the budget deficit saying the total deficit financing done in the PTI’s full term was Rs2.6 trillion but the present government took it to Rs2.7 trillion in just three months. He was of the view that the PTI did not lay landmines rather it’s the coalition government which was lying the landmines. He further claimed that in the last fiscal year, the PTI primary deficit was Rs447 billion in nine months but the same rose to Rs1.6 trillion in just three months of the PMLN-led government.
He said why the IMF was not questioning the present government over it as it used to grill the previous government over it. Who is stopping the IMF to press the present government on this matter, he wondered saying maybe it’s Washington. He further refuted the coalition government’s claim that the PTI increased the borrowing.
He said that during four-year PTI term, the total debt was Rs18.4 trillion which was ballooned to Rs9.7 trillion in just three months of the coalition government. Tarin censured the government for bringing five mini-budgets while claiming that another was also on the cards. He mocked at government’s claim that inflation would be around 11.5% saying that the State Bank of Pakistan on the contrary stated that inflation would be more than 20%. On default, the former finance minister said that the threat had not been eliminated contrary to the government claim.
