PTI accuses federal govt of pushing country to economic turmoil

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PESHAWAR: On Thursday, Pakistan Tehreek -e -Insaf (PTI) leaders accused the federal government of alleging that the country was running in economic turmoil, weakening diplomatic relations and surrendering to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Defending his administration’s record on economic growth and foreign policy, he rejected criticism of the proposed mines and minerals bills, and called it constitutional and beneficial for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the PTI government has been subjected to severe criticism by its own party leaders and elected representatives, in which the Chief Minister alleges that he is under pressure to approve the proposed bill from the Assembly.

Finance Advisor Mazamil Aslam and PTI Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram had to call for a press conference to defend the government’s position on the proposed legislation, which apparently was mostly criticized by PTI lawmakers.

PTI leaders and their criticism over the bill, in fact, gave courage to other political parties, including the Awami National Party (ANP), to raise their voice against the proposed bill.

Addressing a press conference in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister’s House, Sheikh Waqas compared the current administration and the former PTI -led government, citing a major difference in diplomatic access, economic management, and development measures.

Sheikh Monteez claimed that former Prime Minister Imran Khan received a $ 2 billion loan package from Saudi Arabia in 2021, which included $ 1.2 billion in direct cooperation, and had favorable results with the IMF and the Chinese leadership. He also highlighted the meeting of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit in Islamia during the PTI era, calling it a major diplomatic achievement.

He alleged that “the present Prime Minister has repeatedly visited Saudi Arabia, but no concrete project has been processed,” he alleged that Shahbaz Sharif had signed more than four IMF agreements and called it a “economic model” for the country.

He questioned why the Gulf countries imposed sanctions on Pakistani workers, adding that such boundaries were not seen in the past.

Talking about economic performance, Mozmal Aslam said that remittances reached $ 31 billion a year after the ousting of PTI, but GDP growth has dropped from 6.5 to 3 percent.

He said that inflation has doubled since 2024, while poverty has increased from 34.2 to 40 percent, and unemployment has increased from 6.2 to 8.5 percent, which has forced more than 900,000 Pakistanis to get jobs abroad. In 2022, 231,000 vehicles indicated a severe decline in car sales as a clear indicator of economic difficulties last year. He also said that Pakistan was requesting Qatar to cancel its LNG agreement due to mismanagement in domestic gas distribution, warning of emerging food security crisis.

Aslam noted that during the three years of PTI and seven months, Rs 18 trillion was borrowed, while the present government borrowed Rs 22 trillion in three years. He said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has maintained an additional budget of Rs 150 billion and has spent Rs 33 billion under the CHAT card scheme in 11 months, leaving Rs 12 billion in residual payments.

The adviser added that the electricity prices increased from Rs 25 per unit to Rs 65 and said that PTI would support borrowing external loans only if it participated in production. He announced plans to allocate Rs 100 billion for Rs 50 for a dedicated loan fund.

On the bill of mining and minerals, he said there was no arrangement in the proposed legislation that damaged the provincial sovereignty. “The bill proposes a regulatory authority and appellate council,” he said.

He said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has more than 3,500 operational mining locations, and the new law will enable the development of an additional 1,000 mines.

The adviser said that the federal government has been releasing Rs 3 billion every month to the province for the last nine months and has paid Rs 11 billion out of Rs 14 billion in oil and gas royalties.