Former Finance Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shaukat Tareen Saturday said that the budget proposed by the government would trigger a wave of inflation and unemployment.
Speaking at a joint press conference with PTI senior leader Omer Ayub, Tarin said that Finance Minister Miftah Ismail presented a very confused budget, as he tried to befool the masses through a jugglery of words.
He said that the government has set unrealistic growth targets in the budget which it would never be able to meet. He asked the finance minister to be serious about the economy. He said that the debt has increased during PTI’s tenure, but the reality must be told that the economy also grew considerably. The former finance minister said large-scale manufacturing (LSM), housing, services sector, remittances, and exports all witnessed robust growth during PTI’s tenure.
Tarin said that the incumbent government withdrew the incentives provided to the industries that would cause their closure, which is alarming.
He said that the government would further increase petrol prices. He said that inflation has gone up to 24 percent, and unemployment would increase further and could soar to 25 to 30 percent.
Tarin said the government will impose a petroleum levy of up to Rs. 35 which would bring another storm of inflation to the country. He added that the PTI government gave Rs. 1 trillion worth of subsidies to the power sector.
Speaking on the occasion, former Federal Minister for Energy Omar Ayub said that the prices of food items will skyrocket. He said that the previous government had left the price of electricity at Rs. 16 per unit and warned that it will now increase to up to Rs. 40 per unit. He also warned that petrol price could soon soar past Rs. 300 per liter.
This budget is the consequence of the failings of the last govt and they still have the audacity to criticize it.