Won’t allow IMF demands in name of budget: Shehbaz

LAHORE: The PMLN President and National Assembly Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif Sunday said the PMLN will not allow the demands of the IMF to be imposed on the people in the name of budget.

He directed the party's Economic Advisory Council (EAC) to expose the government's dismal and disastrous economic performance. Shehbaz directed to convene a meeting of the party's EAC. The council should review strategies to prevent the passage of anti-people budget by PTI, he said. Shehbaz told them to highlight the serious crisis faced by the people of Pakistan due to the skyrocketing inflation, record unemployment and economic destruction of the country because of PTI's disastrous policies. He asked them to also highlight the realities of constant intentional increase in prices of electricity, gas, medicines, treatment, education and essential commodities.

The PMLN president said this government may change the statistics by lying but that won't change ground realities of the economy clearly visible to everyone.

Meanwhile, the PMLN Secretary Information Marriyum Aurangzeb challenged Imran Khan to issue a comparison of economic indicators for the year 2018 when PMLN ended its term versus 2021 after 3 years of PTI government.

In a statement, Marriyum said the incompetent and lying PTI government destroyed the economy and now shamelessly tweeting lies to cover up the disaster they committed. These lies won't fix the economic crisis created by this government, she added. She said that the PTI regime was still unable to even match the economic progress under PMLN government.

The former information minister reminded that PMLN's 5.8 growth and 3 percent inflation dwarfs PTI's minus 0.4 growth rate and 16 percent inflation rate.

In five years PMLN took Rs10,000 billion loan and completed countless development projects, while PTI took Rs15,000 billion loan in just 3 years and did not complete a single project, she said.

Marriyum said under PMLN, the FBR collected a record high Rs3,842 billion in taxes, while PTI had to revise its own targets three times for the first time in country's history. “This PTI government didn't even meet its current year's target of Rs4,500 billion tax collection. Who are they trying to fool by setting up a target of 5.8 trillion”, she said.

This government that came into power through lies and forgery is only surviving through lies and forgery, she concluded.